


Down the Hall, To the Right

by morbid_solemn



Category: Supernatural
Genre: M/M, Office AU, Secretary Castiel, Secretary Dean
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-03
Updated: 2015-05-31
Packaged: 2018-03-21 02:29:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 26,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3674100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morbid_solemn/pseuds/morbid_solemn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Dean Winchester is prompted by his mother to apply for a secretary job in the local law firm he finds Castiel.</p><p>***</p><p>Good news! I know what I'm doing with this fic and it's going to be really fluffy and cute so don't worry!</p><p>If you draw covers, I'd love if you could draw me one! Or if you kow someone who can, please spread the word! Thanks!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The sunlight poured through the kitchen window, falling on the golden hair of the woman who was reading intently through the classified section of the newspaper. When her lips turned up in an interested smile, she picked up a nearby pen and circled the small box. She continued to read, but turned her attention to the stove she was standing at. She placed the pen back down and picked up a spatula, using it to flip the pancake that had just turned golden brown. She resumed looking through the job offers. A brown haired boy walked into the kitchen, and the woman set down the newspaper and the spatula. 

"Good morning, Sammy!" She smiled as the hugged him. "Grab a plate and some maple syrup. I made pancakes." 

"Yes, pancakes!" Sam cheered. He struggled to pull a ceramic plate out of the high cabinet. The woman reminded herself to rearrange those. Just as a bowl tried to escape the cabinet, a hand grabbed it and the plate and handed it to Sam. The hand belonged to a much taller boy who didn't share his brother's shortness, or hair. This boy had ashy blond hair that was cut short, unlike his brother. His face was splattered with light freckles, while his brother had none. He had bright green eyes, but his brother had eyes that resembled the turquoise fusion of a galaxy.

"Maybe you'll be able to do that one day. If you get taller." The taller boy teased his brother. He ruffled his hair.

"Shut up, jerk." Sam retorted.

The taller boy began to reply with his classic reply, but his mother was now staring at him, after pronouncing the beginning of the word. "I mean, slightly annoying person that is also related to me." He uttered the first string of words that came to mind, and the woman couldn't hold back her laughter at his ridiculous comment. Dean's face filled with embarrassment and quickly asked, "Uh, what're we having for breakfast?" Sam answered his question and Dean pulled two more plates out of the cabinet for himself and his mother. Dean placed his plates at the seats at the small table just outside of the kitchen. While Sam grabbed the cutlery and placed a bottle of maple syrup at the table, Dean questioned his family about their choice of drink this morning, and the reply caused him to pour orange juice into the three glasses situated at each plate. Mary brought over the plate of pancakes and pulled a reusable tupperware box that contained fruits out of the refrigerator and poured it into a bowl which she placed on the table. 

"Today's my first day for work at the library, so can you drive me Dean?" Sam asked Dean. The school year had recently ended and Dean had just graduated. Sam wanted to spend as much time with Dean as possible before his brother left for college. Except that he hadn't told Sam yet.

Dean glanced at his mother and shared a sad look with her. "Yeah sure, Sammy." He smiled at Sam who was oblivious to the previous moment. Sam smiled back. 

"Speaking of jobs, Dean I found one in the paper. It's full-time and I think it's honestly what we need. It's a secretary job at the law firm on the edge of town." Dean's eyes widened. How could she offer him a secretary job? 

"Mom, a secretary job? Isn't that for...” He trailed off, a look of disgust creeping onto his face. 

"Dean, I know the last word in that sentence isn't 'girls' because you know that all jobs are available to anyone of any gender." She said sternly, causing Dean to bow his head in shame. Their mother excused herself to answer her phone. 

"Now?" She asked. 

"I know, and I'm sorry, Mary, but Meg just called in sick. And it's not like I can ask someone else to leave their vacations and fill in. You're the only one I can ask here." The man on the other line was saying. Mary sighed but accepted the new shift. 

"Hey I'm sorry guys, but I have to go. Can you guys clean up and don't forget to take Sam to the library, okay Dean? And the firm will be interviewing people for that job at 3 o'clock sharp. Please wear something nice. First impressions." She warned. "Rachel is picking me up, so the car's all yours, Dean." She smiled warmly. "Good luck both of you."

*** 

Dean had dropped Sam off immediately after they had cleaned up and now it was only 2:03 so he could rest. But he didn't know that. Dean couldn't remember what time his mother had told him said the interview started at. He looked at his phone and swore. 

“Wait the interview’s at 2:30, right?” He asked himself. Better early than late, he decided, and rushed to get dressed. 

*** 

The Winchester family car was a mint condition Chevrolet 1967 Impala. Dean had always believed it was the best year for the model, especially when considering the newer years. He pulled the vanity mirror down to reveal the mirror and fixed his hair up. He knew his mother was right and, even though he didn’t want this job, he knew why he needed it.

The Impala’s thunderous roar drew silent when it pulled up to the accounting firm. A sign that read “Novak & Novak Law Firm” was written in elegant, but simple, brown letters. Dean glanced at his watch and found the time to be 2:28. He got out of the car, slamming the door accidentally out of nervousness. He knew he needed this job for the money, and he knew that he couldn’t afford to not have this job. With a sigh he walked into the office.

A secretary sat at the entrance of the office and smiled at Dean as he walked in. She had short dark hair and looked to be in her late thirties. He smiled back at her, shyness visible in his expression.

“Here for the secretarial job interview, sir?” She asked, knowingly. He sheepishly nodded and she smiled again. “Little early. It only starts at 3. Down the hall, to the right. Good luck!” Dean thanked her and walked down the carpeted halls. The building was decorated perfectly, with an amazing color scheme. The carpets were of a neutral dark blue and the walls were painted with light blue and white pin stripes. Occasional pictures lined the walls with colors that also match the interior. Chairs were being set up by a boy who looked about Dean’s age with dark brown hair. 

“Need some help?” Dean asked the boy. The brown haired boy looked up and handed Dean two chairs with a smile.

“Thanks.” After Dean set up the chairs, he sat down in one and boy looked at him again. “Good luck.” He looked around and whispered the last sentence to him. “This job’s for one of the Novak brothers, Lucifer. I work for the other brother, Michael. Lucifer gets a new secretary every month because he doesn’t really like them.” Dean nodded and the boy walked away. 

Within an hour, a man walked into the hallway and stopped at the door to open it after smiling at the candidates that had slowly accumulated in the chairs. “Good morning,” he said to them. A chorus of replies answered him and he continued. “Who would like to go first?” Dean raised his hand, and was apparently the only to. He thought that if he was the first one to go, at least he would have to worry about having to outdo the person before himself. The tall black haired man gestured for him to come into the room and join him.

They sat at a table that matched the room in its plain simplicity. “Good morning my name is Michael Novak.” Dean nodded and swallowed. This man was the head of the business, and was now interviewing him. He summoned as much courage and confidence he could hold without seeming arrogant. 

“Good morning, sir. I’m Dean Winchester.” He said with a firm politeness. 

“What is the reason you’re here. Mr. Winchester? Why do you want this job?” Michael asked. What should he say? His mom wanted him to take this job because his asshole of a father had recently left them because he found out he had another kid and had lost touch with his actual family? No, he couldn’t panic. He rehearsed this. 

“I recently graduated high school, and I haven’t decided on a major for college.” That wasn’t a lie. He wasn’t planning on going to college due to the limited income they were receiving. Because he hadn’t bothered with college, he hadn’t bothered with deciding on a major, either. “I thought that by seeing how accounting offices were run and such, I could, uh, learn more about the field and maybe go into it.” Dean said. Michael seemed very interested with this, and was visibly impressed. He seemed like a nice person, but the job was as a secretary for his brother who was literally named after freaking Satan. Michael continued to ask Dean more questions which he seemed to answer flawlessly even adding in some jokes to his answers to show off his social skills, which would surely be needed for a secretary. After the interview ended, Michael had risen from his seat, shaken Dean’s hand and smiled wishing him the best. Dean walked out of the building with a sense of accomplishment; he knew this job was his.


	2. Chapter 2

A brown haired boy walked into his brother’s study to ask him about dinner when he noticed the numerous folders spread out on his desk. He glanced at the door and when assured that his brother wasn’t in the doorway, he opened one of the manila folders to find the name that he had heard somewhere. His eyes widened slightly as he remembered where he had heard the name. 

He recalled the time this morning when the chairs for the secretarial interview were being set up. A boy had helped set up the chairs with an admirable amount of politeness. When he walked through the same hallway about an hour later, he had heard the same boy’s voice state his name to be Dean Winchester. The same name that was written in Michael’s neat handwriting. He was not only reminded of the boy’s kindness, but of his bright green eyes that still made him blush.

The door opened behind him and Michael entered the room. The brown haired boy rushed to close the folder and place it neatly on his desk, but his fingers tripped and pushed a few papers off his desk. 

“I-I'm sorry, Michael, I know-“ He began to say, but Michael interrupted him with a chuckle.

“Castiel, I was actually going to ask you to take a look at those. They’re my notes from the interviews as you may have seen. It seems that I have more work than I assumed and I don’t have the time to read through them. Anyway, it would be better to get the opinion of someone else.”

Castiel found his voice and spoke up. “Can’t Lucifer do them? I mean, if it’s for his secretary, then he could figure out which one he likes best and we wouldn’t have to do this again.” 

“As good an idea as that is,” Michael smiled. “Lucifer is far too busy with the Tran case.” Castiel remembered the Tran case, of which his classmate and friend’s mother was kidnapped. “I would really appreciate if you could do this, Castiel.” His dull green eyes pleaded with Castiel’s deep blue ones and he finally nodded. Michael sighed and placed a hand on his younger brother’s shoulder, thanking him silently. “Dinner will be on in an hour. Sorry it’s so late.” Castiel walked out of the home office and walked up the stairs to his room and began to read the notes left in the folders.

Castiel had read 15 interviews and now knew all the questions by heart. He had found three finalists, a Garth Fitzgerald, a Hester Gold, and, of course, Dean Winchester. Castiel bit his lip as he recalled the image of the green eyed boy. He had heard of a Dean in his school, but there was no way of knowing it was him. He had heard guys talk of his skills in football, and girls talk of his unbelievably good looks. “Well, I know that’s true.” He blushed again after the laughter escaped his lips. The school was so large and in his four years in the school he had never even glimpsed the boy. A knock came at Castiel’s door and he invited the person in. His twin brother, Inias came in. They were fraternal brothers, so Inias didn’t have Castiel’s bright blue eyes. His were brown. The only trait they shared was their brown hair.

“Dinner’s ready.” He glanced at the papers. “What’s that?”

“Michael asked me to pick someone for Lucifer’s secretarial job.” Castiel said Inais laughed. 

“Don’t sweat it. Lucifer’ll probably throw ‘em out by next week.” 

“Oh really? I have a feeling this one’ll last the month.” Castiel smirked.

“Do I hear a bet in your voice?”

“Twenty bucks.”

“You’re on.” Castiel walked out of his room and while Inias walked with him, he asked, “What makes you think this one’s gonna last the month?” Castiel shrugged and Inais huffed, clearly upset that Castiel was probably hustling him; after all, he had seen the notes of the interviews. They walked into the dining room and the Novaks were comfortably situated at the table. Michael and Lucifer were seated at the heads of the table. Inias and Castiel sat down across from Anna and Hannah. Sitting next to Inias was Hael.

The Novak family was fairly large in size, but along the years certain members of the family had left. After the birth of the youngest member, Hael, who was only eight now, their mother had died. Michael had been in his first year of college when this had happened, and Lucifer was a sophomore in high school. Castiel and Inias were taking a test in fifth grade when they were pulled out of school by their father. Hannah was reading in the second grade and Anna was coloring in her kindergarten class. 

It was only after Michael had finished his graduating ceremony that he received a phone call stating that his father had been hit by a drunk driver as he had been walking down the street. The irony of the incident was that their father had been drunk himself. Michael was thankful for the fact that Lucifer also attended the same college. That day he ran to Lucifer’s dorm, too many thoughts running through his head to call his brother instead. Lucifer’s roommate wasn’t in the room, so the new was easier to deliver. 

Lucifer had sworn so much that day. He and Michael had sat on his bed struggling to decide what to do. Michael had told Lucifer that their father's lawyer had informed them of the money that their father had left them in his will. They could use that money to take care of their brothers and sisters.

It hit them then that they still needed to tell their siblings. Michael looked at his watch. It was time for them to leave school. Lucifer called Hannah’s middle school and then Anna and Hael’s elementary school to ask them to tell them to wait inside. Lucifer silently thanked the secretary for recognizing him and not asking any further questions. Michael called Castiel and Inias to ask them to walk to Hannah’s middle school since she was the only one who was alone. 

They had driven back home as fast as possible, grateful that they decided to go to school nearby their home. They had informed them of the news after they brought them home. Hannah held Anna and Hael close when they cried and Inias simply stared at them blankly. Castiel was the first to speak.

“What are we going to do?” He asked simply.

Michael looked at Lucifer who called the attention of the family. Anna and Hael looked up with rosy cheeks and bright, watery eyes. “We’re going to stay here for a few days to think about this. No has to go to school tomorrow if they don’t want to. I will stay here and take up Dad’s law firm.” He was thankful that he followed his father’s footsteps and could simply take control of the firm instead of having to find a job. “The lawyer who took care of Dad’s will has informed me that there is a trust which will be used for anything needed.” He stopped to look around from face to face. “Listen, I’m sorry this happened, but it did, and we have to keep moving forward. I’m going to try and take care of you as best as possible.”

Castiel almost forgot about Balthazar, the oldest brother after Lucifer who had run away from home under the watch of their father. He hadn’t even noticed until Anna asked about him in third grade when she had a project about her family. Michael had taken it upon himself to try and find Balthazar when their father had simply said he was gone and done nothing further to find him. It only took Michael a week to find his missing brother. 

Balthazar had found a place to stay with a couple of friends, and despite running away from home, was actually doing quite well. He asked Michael not to tell their father, but allowed him to tell Lucifer and the twins because they were old enough to understand. He told the rest of the family a few days after their father died when Balthazar called to check in. 

*** 

“Castiel. Castiel? Castiel!” Michael shook Castiel from his thoughts and smiled slightly when he looked at him. “Did you get a chance to look through the interviews?” 

“Uh, yeah.”

“Did you pick someone?” He asked, returning to his meal.

“Yes.” Michael looked up, surprised he had picked someone so soon. “Uh, Dean Winchester.” Michael smiled.

“I would have picked him, too. He was smart, knew what he wanted to do. Very sociable, and funny. I think you’ll like him Lucifer.” Michael said, turning to Lucifer.

“Well, if you say he’s not an idiot then obviously isn’t.” Lucifer said sarcastically. Michael looked at him with annoyance playing in his eyes. “Wait. Winchester. Why does that sound familiar?” 

Inias spoke up. “Oh, he was in the town paper a few weeks back, right before school ended. He’s a praised football player and I think it was about that.”

“Yes, he did mention being in your grade, Castiel do you know him?” Michael always favored him, so it was no surprise that the spotlight was being swept away from Inias. Castiel shook his head. “Alright. I just wanted to be sure that you weren’t choosing him out of favoritism.” Castiel shook his head again. No, of course not. There was no special reason why he had chosen Dean other than his secretarial skills. No, it certainly wasn’t his bright green eyes that both bored into Castiel’s soul and made him melt. No, of course not.


	3. Chapter 3

“Dean!” Sam called opening Dean’s door without knocking which severely irritated Dean. “Dean, wake up!” Dean left the comfort and warmth of his bed to punch his younger brother. “Wait, you can’t hit me because Mom told me to wake you up.” Dean sighed and his arm fell. The rule between the brothers was that if you didn’t knock, you received one punch, but it didn’t count if their mother had called for them. 

“What? Why?” Dean asked, groggily.

“Dunno know.” Sam shrugged. Dean groaned as he walked down the stairs to greet his mother who smiled at him and handed him the landline phone. He put the phone to his ear. 

“Hi Dean,” It was a woman’s voice that seemed vaguely familiar. “We met yesterday; I’m the secretary from Novak & Novak? I gave you directions to the room for the job interview.” Dean made a sound of recognition.

“Yes, I remember, ma’am.” He said, his mother’s smile grew wider as she heard his politeness. 

“Don’t bother with the formalities, honey. Just call me Jody. Mr. Novak wanted me to inform you that your application to work here has been accepted!” Dean took a moment to smile and wondered how he could have gotten the job. “And, he was wondering if you could start today.” Dean’s smile wavered, but at least if he began working now, the paychecks would roll in sooner. 

“Of course, that’s fine. What time today?” 

“About 10:30?” Dean turned around to look at the clock. 10:30 was in an hour.

“Okay, sounds good.”

***

Jody seemed like a lady who was simply burdened with a lot of work, leaving her with barely any time to be really nice. She walked Dean to Lucifer’s office, which was next to Michael’s. Dean’s desk was right outside of Lucifer’s office and Michael’s secretary’s desk was the same. Jody filled Dean in with his duties, his work, the regulations of the office, and other miscellaneous things. She told him she had more work to return to, but it had really been a pleasure meeting him. He smiled and informed her that the feeling was mutual. 

Dean saw the brown haired boy from yesterday and smiled at him. He walked over to his desk. “Hi I forgot to introduce myself yesterday.” He put his hand forward as his continued. “I’m Dean Winchester.” The boy shook his hand and smiled. He was about to introduce himself when Michael exited his office to talk to the boy.

“I’m really sorry you had to leave.” He was saying, completely oblivious to the fact that Dean was there. “It’s too bad your mother found another found in Oklahoma, Samandriel. We’re really going to miss you here.” Dean looked at Samandriel’s desk to see that it was completely empty, and he was holding a box that Dean presumed was filled with his belongings. “Please call sometime to let us know how you’re doing.” Michael’s eyes were sad, and Dean became confused how such a nice person could have a brother who was believed to be so evil that he would fire his secretaries after just a week. Michael sighed and turned to go back to his office after Samandriel left, but he stopped when he noticed Dean.

“Dean.” He smiled. “Isn’t funny that right after I hired you we lost our other secretary?” Dean smiled weakly. “It’s alright. I’ll figure something out. I assume Jody filled you in on any other information regarding your position. Do you have any questions?” Dean shook his head.

“No, Jody explained everything to me. She’s really nice.”

“Yes, she is. Okay, then ask Lucifer if he needs anything. It’s great to have you aboard Mr. Winchester.” He patted Dean’s shoulder. Dean replied with a “thank you sir” and Michael went back to his office. Dean walked to Lucifer’s office, his fist just above the door. He forced himself to knock and find out for himself if he liked Lucifer or not.

“Come in.” He heard a voice. It wasn’t as deep as he thought it would be, considering again the man’s reputation and name. He walked in to see a man with dark blond hair in a rather nice suit. “How’s it going?” He asked. Dean was surprised that the man’s voice was not mocking. He was genuinely asking.

“Um,” Dean started, clearly shocked. “Pretty good, I guess. Do you, uh, need anything, sir?” Lucifer looked at him with a serious face.

“Yeah, for you to get the hell out of here. I'm working.” Dean stared at his boss. The man wasn't evil, he was a total dick. Lucifer broke into laughter pointing at Dean.

“God, that was the best one yet! Wow! You were all confused but then all angry looking oh my god!” He pulled on a mock glare, sticking his bottom lip out in a pout and his eyebrows pulled down down low over his eyes and then he laughed. Dean relaxed and realized this was just a test he passed. He laughed with his boss. Lucifer pushed away a fake tear. “I was just kidding. The other secretaries usually just get all upset andreally scared and run out. You’re alright, Dean. I guess Michael was right. We should have Cassie pick ‘em more often.” Dean was about to ask who “Cassie” was when Michael knocked on Lucifer’s door.

“Mrs. Tran is here to see you.” He said, then his gaze shifted to Dean.

“I was just telling Dean here to copy the technicalities of the Tran case in triplicate. They should be on your desk.” Dean nodded and walked out.

***

Dean didn’t think Lucifer was too bad. He was actually a pretty cool guy, but his sense of humor was just hard to get used to. He handed the three copies of the forms to Lucifer, struggling to hold all the copies in his hand. The total amount of pages of all the copies was approximately 250 pages, but Dean could swear that the machine must have stopped counting. Lucifer was on the phone, but he mouthed the words “thank you” and Dean returned to his desk. He saw another boy around his age with dark hair that could be mistaken for black if not carefully observed. Which, of course, Dean did not do. He began unpacking things from a box, and thought it was Samandriel until Michael stepped out of his office and walked over to the boy. 

“Does he have a thing for guys my age with brown hair or something?” Dean thought to himself with a quiet chuckle. 

“I really appreciate you doing this. But really, if there are any problems, just let me know, alright?” Michael was saying. The boy nodded.

“Of course. It’ll be fine. I volunteered for this job, remember?” The boy said. Michael agreed, and walked into his office. The boy spoke with a casual tone that Dean would not dare use here. He continued to unpack his office supplies and Dean looked at his own desk, which was bare except for the supplies that were already neatly set up for him. He walked over to the boy after he was done.

“Hi I’m Dean.” His mother told him to try to make friends, saying that it would make working a lot easier. The boy looked up at him with blue eyes so deep they seemed to stare into his very soul. Dean stepped back a little because of the gaze, but smiled in a way of asking the boy to forgive his rudeness. The boy smiled back.

“I’m Castiel.” Dean expected them to engage in conversation, he wanted to talk to this boy so badly, but he really didn’t know why. Castiel was also stuck in his position for a moment, but he urged himself to move, in fear of scaring Dean with his awkwardness. He went back to his desk and sat down organizing his desk to his style. Dean stayed there for a second before realizing that he had been standing there for a few minutes and pushing himself to sit down. 

“I must’ve looked so stupid standing there.” He muttered. This mumbling was loud enough for Castiel to hear, who began to laugh to himself. Castiel looked at Dean and Dean felt his face burn with embarrassment. Dean didn’t know why, but he was going to fix this.

***

He went home for his lunch break, and told his mother and Sam how his day was going. He told them about how Lucifer wasn’t that bad, despite their questioning looks after hearing his name. He told them about Castiel, and his family laughed when he quietly told them how he had made a fool of himself. Mary told him not to feel discouraged, and to try to speak to him again soon. Sam told him to talk about how exhausting work is. Dean thought that was a good idea and couldn’t wait to try it out. 

When returning to his office he passed Jody and asked her when the office closed. He sighed when she told him around 6. She patted him on the back, saying it’d be faster than it sounds. He didn’t believe that. He had to spend six more hours in this office doing absolutely nothing, but thinking of ways to try and be friends with Castiel. He saw Castiel walk into Michael’s office, ask if he could go get some coffee from the break room, which Michael agreed to. This gave Dean an idea. 

Dean knocked on Lucifer’s door and walked into his office. “Hey, can I get some coffee from the break room?” 

“Yeah, knock yourself out, man. No need to ask.” Lucifer said. Dean felt stupid again, not knowing the unspoken rules of the office and heading to the break room.

He wasn’t surprised to see Castiel there making a cup of coffee. He was standing, no longer stuck behind that desk, and Dean’s eyes trailed over Castiel’s light blue shirt that was tucked into dark gray slacks. His shoes were shined to perfection and Dean wondered how someone his age could dress to well. Of course, he had heard of a boy who dressed exceptionally well in their high school, and he had heard about a quiet kid with a really weird name and he assumed both rumors were about Castiel. He wondered how he had never seen the boy in school, or how rumors were spread of such things as his attire and silence, but not of his dangerously blue eyes. He had always heard girls talk about his own eyes, so he thought that such a rumor wouldn’t be as weird as it sounded. His eyes trailed back up from his shoes but his gaze seemed to be stuck on -. 

“Oh no,” Dean thought as he tried, desperately, to pry his lingering eyes away. “Really? Why did it have to be his ass? Are you kidding me?” Dean couldn’t stop, and to his utter horrification, Dean realized that he said his last sentence out loud, and now Castiel was turning around. “Oh God really?” He continued to speak out loud, and realized how rude he was being, for not only sounding like he was annoyed that Castiel was here, but that his gaze was lowered, not even looking Castiel in the eye. He saw Castiel lower his gaze and began to walk past Dean and out of the room, sadness etched onto his face. “Wait, no, Cas, stop.” Castiel stopped, his back facing Dean and Dean forced his eyes to stay at the top of Castiel’s head. “I’m sorry, I was thinking about something.” He tried his best to sound convincing. “I didn’t mean to stay that out loud. And I certainly wouldn’t say that to you, Cas.” Castiel turned around.

“Alright, Dean. When did you start calling me ‘Cas’?” 

“I- sorry if that’s not okay with you, Cas, then- shit sorry I-“ The nickname was like a tic, stuck on his tongue. Castiel laughed and was such a pleasing sound that Dean could help but feel his heart melt and he felt an easy smile on his face. 

“Cas is fine, Dean. I’ve just never heard anyone call me that.” Castiel smiled. “Actually, I really like it.” Dean breathed a sigh of relief. They stood there for a moment and Dean thought about what Sam had said. 

“So how do you like working here?” Dean asked. 

“It’s fine.” Dean thought this short answer was a lie, and that it was okay to continue with his conversation.

“I just got here, but man, it’s pretty bad.” Dean didn’t seem to notice the frown that was forming on Castiel’s face. Dean continued to think of things to say. “Lucifer’s name really suits him. I mean, man, the guy’s a royal pain in the ass!” Dean laughed, and he still didn’t notice the anger in Castiel’s expression. “And Michael? Man, I swear the guy has a few sticks up his ass.” Dean laughed, but Castiel found nothing funny about his statements. 

“They are nice, smart people. You should be grateful that you work for such pleasant people. Other people march their secretaries up and down, getting this and that. You’re lucky to be working here.” Castiel stared at Dean, and this time his eyes were icicles, cold and unforgiving. “My brothers are amazing people. Don’t you ever talk about them like that again!” Castiel was shorter than Dean, but he managed to tower over Dean. He had just met Castiel, but Dean had never seen this amount of fury in someone’s face other than his father, of course. 

“Hey, I’m sorry! Really! I actually really like them, they’re pretty cool!” Dean pleaded. “I was just saying that to try and strike up conversation with you! Sorry!” Castiel looked at him, and an intense stand-off between blue eyes and green ones waged. In the end, the blue eyes surrendered, Castiel leaving the room without a word. Dean sighed and yelled out of frustration once he left. Why was it so hard for him to be friends with someone like Castiel?


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So spring break just ended which means updates won't be coming as often. I'll try to update every week though. Also, I know the first chapter said Novak & Novak was an accounting firm, but that was a first draft, so I changed it a little while ago. It's actually a law firm. Just wanted to clear that up. Don't forget to tell your friends about this fic, too!

Dean saw Benny and Charlie sitting in a booth, engaged in a rather serious conversation. The redhead was shaking her head and looked down to stir her drink with her straw before sipping it. Benny was looking at her and saying something, but as Dean approached the booth he could see his friend sighing out of desperation. He saw Dean and turned to look at him as he sat down.

“Dean, can you tell Charlie, here, that it is most certainly pronounced ‘Carra-be-in’?” Benny asked.

“It’s obviously ‘Carr-i-be-an’.” Charlie said.

“I’m sorry, but I’m pretty damn sure it’s ‘I-really-don’t-give-a-shit-guys-it’s-just-a-stupid-name’.” Charlie and Benny laughed at that and gave up on the argument. They talked for a while, chatting about whether their plans for the future had changed. Benny said he was still in search of an apartment in town. When Charlie told him she had seen one up the road, he thanked her, saying that she was a lifesaver. Benny could only stay in town if he found a place to stay because his parents were moving back to Louisiana. Benny asked how Dean was doing and he filled them in on his new job, except for a few details.

“Wait Novak? Isn’t that that weird kid from school?” Benny asked. Dean was surprised to see that he shot Benny a glare, and that Charlie did also.

“He’s a really cool guy, people just don’t like that he’s a decent kid who keeps to himself.” She said, making Benny to move back and raise his hands in defense. 

“Sorry, I didn’t know.” Benny said simply. Charlie turned to Dean.

“Wait so why were you embarrassed that you were looking at him in the break room.” Dean felt his face burn and he stumbled over his words.

“Uh, um, it’s just, uh weird, y’know. To be looking at someone. For that long, that is.” Dean spit out.

Charlie smirked. “Well if you were looking at him for that long, you must have been checking him out.” Dean’s eyes widened and he tried to deny the accusation. “And if his back was turned, and you were looking relatively low, well, I doubt you were admiring his calves.” She chuckled.

“No, n-no. I’m straight, Charlie. I don’t like guys.” Charlie looked at Dean with a look of “seriously?” etched on her face. “Yes, really. I only want to be friends with him.”

“Why?” She asked while looking down and spinning her straw around in her glass. “Why are you trying to be friends so badly?”

“If I befriend Cas, it’ll probably help me paycheck-wise because his brother’s my boss and in charge of the law firm.” Dean said.

“Nope.” Charlie said, popping the “p” nonchalantly and still looking down. “By what you told us, they already like you, and you’re not the kind of person who goes the extra mile for that kind of thing.”

“Also, it hasn’t even been a full 24 hours and you’ve already given him a nickname?” Benny chuckled.

“Yeah, that’s true. I’ve never heard anyone call him ‘Cas’ before.” She looked up.

“Yeah that’s what he told me.” Dean muttered and immediately regretted it. Charlie laughed and so did Benny.

“Of course he did!” Benny laughed. “Did he laugh and say he liked it, too?” Dean nodded accidentally, and it only made Benny laugh harder. “Oh, brother, your head is so far up your ass!” Charlie laughed at his comment. Dean muttered something about going to the restroom. A girl walked by and Charlie looked at her as she passed.

“Hey, Summer!” The girl turned around, long black hair flipping with her movement. “Come sit.” The girl was wearing a bright yellow top with dark jeans. Her brown eyes were strangely accented by the yellow. She sat down in the booth. 

“Charlie!” She said. Her casual tone did not match her outfit or her name for that matter. “What’s up? I haven’t seen you in forever! How’s it going?” She noticed Benny and held put her hand. “Summer Smith,” Benny shook her hand. Dean came back into view in the far back, walking back to the booth from the restrooms. His looked toward the booth and Summer caught sight of the gaze. 

“Charlie, I didn’t know you were friends with Dean Winchester: Football Star and Captain.” She stated the last part with her hands moving like she was stating the headline of a paper. “I always thought you were a nerd.” Charlie laughed sarcastically.

“We’ve got a problem. Dean has a crush but he thinks he doesn’t because it’s guy and he still thinks he’s straight.” Charlie rushed.

“How do you know he’s not telling the truth?”

“This crush has been certified by his two closest friends.” Benny nodded with Charlie when she said that. “And I’m sure. He was staring at the guy’s ass, for God’s sake.”

“Do I know said crush?” Summer asked.

“Mmhmm.” Charlie hummed. “You talk to him quite often. You guys are like besties.”

“Wait. Castiel?” Summer asked, completely shocked. Charlie nodded. “Dude no fucking way! Castiel has been telling me about Dean every moment of the day since yesterday. Castiel is gay so he’s pretty much accepted his crush on Dean.” 

“One down, own to go.” Benny said. Summer looked at him.

“Actually, no. Castiel seemed pretty upset yesterday. He said something about having awful taste in guys. When I asked him about it, he said he found out Dean was an asshole.” 

“Is that about the break room thing? With Dean talking shit about his brothers and acting like he didn’t want Cas to be there?” Summer nodded.

“Wait-Cas?” She asked about the nickname. When Charlie filled her in, she smiled saying, “aw, how cute.”

“That was just a misunderstanding.” Summer looked at her. “Look, I know how it sounds, but trust me, Dean is really sorry that happened. He didn’t mean for it to happen. You have my word about that.”

“Okay, but you how I feel about Cas.” Her expression darkened, reminding Charlie of the moment when Gandalf had loomed over Bilbo in the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring, and how he asked him if he believed that Gandalf was a conjurer of cheap tricks. Charlie knew that Summer and Castiel had been friends since kindergarten. Sumer was practically friend, sister, and mother to him, and when Castiel was hurt, she made sure the person who did it knew exactly how he felt. She was the reason only rumors were spread about Castiel, and he was never bullied. She simply knew too many people, and had too many strings to pull. Her expression lightened as soon as she saw the grave expression on Charlie’s face. “Okay,” she said getting up. “Take care of Dean, alright?” The two friends nodded and Dean walked closer to the booth. He caught sight of Summer and sent her a sly smile and she simply waved.

“Who was that?” Dean asked, staring at her as she left.

“A friend.” Charlie smiled. “Fine, Dean, if you want to be friends with Castiel so badly, I found something on Tumblr that can help you.” Dean groaned.

“Tumblr? Really? Charlie everything that you use from Tumblr is a failure.” Dean said.

“No, seriously this time it’ll work.” She scrolled through her phone to find the post. She held it up for Dean to see. 

“Friend pick-up lines? Really? That’s ridiculous.” 

“No, really it works. It’s how I got half of my friends.” Dean scoffed.

“Yeah, I’m sure it did.” Dean huffed. “Alright. I’ll try them.” Dean looked down at his phone to see his mother texted him. He looked back up after reading her message. “Sorry guys, I gotta go.” 

“Call me; we’ll work out those lines.” Charlie smiled. Dean saluted as he left and Benny turned to her.

“Are those lines are real thing?” He wondered.

“Nah, they’re just regular pick-up lines. He needs some help asking him out.” Benny laughed.

***

Castiel didn’t especially like the summer. Sure it was nice to not have to worry about school, and sure he didn’t have to deal with homework and assignments, but it was always sticky and hot and Castiel really wasn’t a fan of warm weather. Air conditioning seemed like one of the greatest inventions due to this. So sitting in the café waiting for his friend wasn’t especially bad. Except, of course, for the stares and laughter he heard coming from the table across from him. It was a group of guys laughing most likely at the fact that he was sitting alone. He wasn’t deaf to the rumors from school, and he knew that the most famous one depicted him as a loner without any friends. He never really understood how that one came to be, as he did have friends, just a limited amount of them. He looked down at his watch and did what he always did and shrugged it off ignoring the laughter. 

Castiel pulled out his phone and texted his friend, inquiring where she was. As he put away his phone, a familiar face made itself known to Castiel. 

 

“Hey, Cas.” Dean Winchester. Castiel refrained from ignoring the comment as he was already looking at him. He waved and watched Dean walk to the table of snickering boys. Castiel noticed that they were now silent. 

“You know Novak?” One of them asked. His face was a mixture of shock and disgust. 

“Guys, shut up. You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Dean snapped. The boys looked at him. 

“Yeah, guys. Shut up.” Castiel was still in shock at what Dean had said but now his attention was on the scared look that seared itself on the faces of all the boys as Summer walked by them. The group rose slowly and filled out of the café, leaving Dean confused and trailing after his friends. As Dean left, he glanced at the girl and could have sworn he had seen her somewhere, a few days ago. Summer sat in the chair opposite Castiel. “He’s sticking up for ya. That’s a good sign.” She smiled. Castiel sighed. He didn’t need to hear this.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Castiel remained stone faced.

“Are you kidding?” She gawked at him. “You’ve been working with him for a whole week now. And everything that comes out of your mouth has to do with him. Until Thursday. Why was that again?” 

“He was annoying.” 

“Annoying?” She asked.

“He wouldn’t leave me alone. It was like every minute of the day he was trying to get my attention. And then,” Castiel paused. He wasn’t even sure of what had happened.

“What?”

“I walked into the break room for some water, and like always, Dean followed me in there.” 

“He follows you in here?” Summer laughed. “Dude-“

“Shut up. I asked why he always followed me into the room, and he said it was my fault, and after I asked how it could be my fault, he told me that I would walk in there at the exact time that he would need to. When I told him how coincidental that would be and how it couldn’t possibly happen every time, he said shut up and then he called me-” He shifted his line of sight downward, as a blush began to cross his features. “He called me ‘feathers’.” Summer noticed how seriously he was taking this and bit her lip to hold back her laughter. 

“’Feathers’?” She questioned. Castiel nodded, completely red. “Well, if anything, he should be embarrassed about that not you.” He looked down, still turning red. “Oh my god.” She breathed. “Castiel, what did you do? You didn’t kiss him did you?” Castiel’s face lost color out of confusion. He looked at her with a puzzled expression and she shrugged. “Seems like there was a lot of sexual tension going on. Hey at least you’re not a tomato anymore.” Castiel scowled at that. “Now, c’mon, Whatever you did can’t be that bad if he decided to talk to you just now.” He blinked at her. “Oh yeah. I saw that. Now out with it, boy.” She slapped him lightly on the shoulder.

“Um. I may have responded with ‘Excuse me, Freckles?’” The blush began to cross his face again. “And then there was a really awkward silence and we stared at each other until Jody walked in.” 

“Wow. Um, Cas, I think you need to consider three things.” The nickname “Cas” was now being used much more regularly. “One, that ‘shut up’ from Dean was a joke. Two, he goes there the same time as you because he wants to be there to talk to you. Three, number two obviously shows how much he obviously likes you.” Castiel sighed. He had heard this every day.

“He doesn’t, he’s straight, and, if you haven’t noticed, he’s a total asshole. He made fun of my brothers, hangs out with jerks, need I say more?” Castiel sighed.

“He does, and, no I haven’t noticed because he isn’t. He only said that to try and strike up a conversation with you. If he lied to try and be friends with you, then he obviously really likes you. And as for his friends, he even told them to fuck off because he liked you better than them.”

“You seem to have refuted all of my arguments except for the most important one.” Castiel smirked. 

“No, I saved that one for last, so that I could get you to say that I was right. And by using the word ‘refute’, you’ve stated that you now agree that my views are, in fact, correct.” Summer smirked and leaned back in her chair. Castiel scowled and crossed his arms against his chest. “Listen, Cas, you never know you who you like until you actually like them and even Charlie told me that she’s always doubted Dean being straight.” He scoffed at her words.

“I still don’t believe that Charlie is friends with someone like Dean.” 

“Neither did I but she swears by her entire Middle Earth and Harry Potter collection, books, movies, and memorabilia, that Dean is a nice, sweet person, who is probably bisexual and really has a thing for you.” Castiel knew how much those belongings meant to his friend. “And I swear on my entire book collection, including,” She stopped to make sure Castiel knew how serious this was. “My Skulduggery Pleasant books.” Castiel’s eyes widened. “If I’m lying, you can burn all of it. Including Charlie’s stuff. She gave me permission.” 

“Okay, maybe you’re right.” 

***

Castiel was typing away at his keyboard, sending out the employee paychecks electronically. Dean couldn’t help notice how Castiel’s fingers darted across the keys. Dean was confused when watching Castiel made him lick his lips. Castiel’s fingers stopped typing and moved to the mouse. He scrolled through his work, double checking it. He clicked a few times and placed a pile of papers back into their folders. He placed the folders neatly into the bottom drawer of his desk. He glanced at his watch and realized that his lunch break had begun ten minutes ago. He turned and noticed Dean was also still there.

Dean watched as Castiel turned around and he busied himself with the papers lying messily on his desk. He turned too fast in his chair, and he bumped into his desk. The papers fell on his desk and he rushed to try and pick them up. Castiel watched him and began laughing quietly to himself. Dean heard the laughter in the silent office and turned to see that it was coming from Castiel. He smiled as he accomplished putting a smile of Castiel’s face and being able to see him laugh which was an award in itself. 

Castiel grabbed his phone and his keys from his desk and began to walk to of the building. Dean was still trying to pick up his papers but he was distracted by Castiel trying to leave. He believed now would be a good time to make for the time he called the boy “Feathers”. He scowled at the memory; he still didn’t know why he had said it. “Hey wait up, Cas!” Hey said. Castiel turned around to look at Dean.

He rubbed absently at the back of his neck. He had Castiel’s attention, but he wasn’t doing anything at the moment. He searched his mind for something to say. How could it be that he wanted to talk to him so badly, but he had nothing to talk about?

“Um, it’s weird that, uh, we never talked in school. Like we went to the same school but we never even knew the other existed.” Dean had no idea what he was saying, but it was working because Castiel now had on a small smile.

“I was thinking that the other day, when my brother Inias said that you went to our school. I had no idea you even went to my school. But, of course, being the football captain, I always heard about you.” Castiel said. Dean blushed slightly at that. This seemed to be going well, so Dean decided to go with Charlie’s advice. He maintained eye contact with Castiel, but suddenly looked down at his hand. 

“Um, it’s, uh, weird that I didn’t, uh, hear about your, uh,” Dean couldn’t believe how hard this was. Charlie told him this would work, but now he wasn’t so sure, but he had to commit because he was already in the middle of his sentence. “Eyes.” He managed to look up at Castiel. Now the words began to flow, an unstoppable river of words. River; that was it. “Your eyes. They’re as blue as the ocean and, wow, they are really hard to look at without getting kinda lost and forgetting where exactly you are and uh wow Castiel, I mean, I always heard people talking about my eyes, but why didn’t I ever hear about yours? I mean, they’re just so wow like they’re like blue stars, they kinda burn at your soul and wow I’m saying all of this out loud and I’m still talking aren’t I?” Castiel nodded and laughed a little.

“Wait,” he said. He grabbed Dean’s hands and now Dean’s face was filled with a shade of red to deep, tomatoes would be impressed. Dean had written all the friend pick-up lines he had thought of with Charlie’s help. And now Castiel was reading them. After he read one, his smile would grow wider, and some of them even brought a chuckle to his lips. Dean would smile a little when that would happen. After he finished reading all of them, Castiel stared at Dean’s hands and then looked up at Dean. His green eyes sparkled with uncertainty. Castiel smiled and hugged Dean. 

Dean’s eyes widened. Castiel actually hugged him. It took him a moment to hug him back and Castiel flushed a light shade of red after the contact. “Thank you, Dean. Those were very poignant, and I really appreciated them.” Dean couldn’t help but smile as Castiel waved him goodbye.

***

Castiel regretted telling Summer what had happened that day, because she spent all night pestering him about how they were pick-up lines and not compliments. He barely had any sleep. Dean smiled at him every time they crossed paths, which seemed to be more than usual. He would smile weakly back, but he was seriously cutting corners in his work, and he had no time for Dean Winchester. 

Dean spent his time making jokes, and trying to hear the rewarding sound of Castiel’s laughter, but it didn’t seem to be working. Castiel would look at him and smile out of politeness, but it wasn’t as rewarding as usual. Thinking something was wrong, so he pressed further to try and cheer him up. 

“So, uh, did you hear about the scarecrow who was promoted?” Dean asked. When he didn’t think Castiel would reply he said, “he was outstanding in his field!” Castiel sighed. 

“What do you call cheap teeth?” He asked. “Buck teeth!” These puns were awful, and although Dean’s voice usually was usually calming to Castiel, he was exhausted and simply didn’t want to hear anyone’s voice.

“Dean.” His voice was so quiet it was barely audible. “Dean.” He said again louder this time.

“No, no, wait Cas, this one’s really good.” Dean said, chuckling.

“Dean, I’m exhausted and I don’t want to hear any of your stupid jokes! I need to work but I can’t do that with you around saying pointless, mindless things!” He erupted. Dean was taken aback by this sudden change of mood. For all he knew, Castiel was enjoying these jokes.

“Well, no need to yell, jerk.” He muttered.

“Excuse me?” Castel said slowly, close to yelling again. “What did you say?”

“I said no need to yell, jerk!” Dean yelled back at Castiel, his green eyes furious. “I’m just trying to be a nice guy. I thought you were upset or down or something so I thought I’d cheer you up, but I guess not, jackass!” 

Castiel walked up to Dean, so close that he could feel his breath. “You should speak to me with more respect. I got you in here, and I could get you out just as fast.” Dean’s eyes widened.

“W-What?” 

“Michael asked me to look through the files and pick someone to be Lucifer’s secretary. I picked you. I can get you fired just like that.” He snapped his fingers to emphasize his last words. Dean stepped back, uttered a “sorry” and kept his head down as he walked back to his desk. Castiel sighed and yelled out of frustration. He liked Dean; of course he did, and everything was going so well until now. Dean stayed completely silent for the rest of the day, sneaking glances at Castiel to try and read his expression. After an hour of glimpses, Dean gave up and focused on his work. He shared a few serious words with Lucifer, which even Lucifer found strange. He would later ask Castiel about it, and he would tell his brother that he didn’t know why he was acting so strange.

Dean went home and put on a smile for his family to stop them from asking questions. Dean finished his dinner rather quickly, and turned Sam down for playing PlayStation, due to the fact that he was tired. He lay in his bed and wondered why Castiel picked him. But mostly wondering how he could fix this once again.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So I've been writing this chapter for a pretty long time. It was originally supposed to be one huge chapter, but when I realized it was going to be over 10 pages while I was still working on it, I decided to split it up. That means more chapters. So instead of 9, there are going to be 10 chapters. Without further ado, enjoy!

Michael walked up the stairs to Castiel’s room and knocked politely. When no reply came, he knocked again, this time slightly harder than the last. Castiel herd the knock and jerked awake from his slumber. “Castiel?” Michael asked. “We’re leaving in ten minutes.” Castiel’s eyes widened as he realized that today was Monday, and he had overslept. He acknowledged Michael’s statement and considered how long it would take him to get dressed. He got out of bed and stared at his reflection in his mirror. This calculation always depended on the state of his hair. It was ruffled messily, sticking up in awkward directions. Some clumps of his hair were stuck to his scalp but others seemed to reach out to the sky. He sighed. His hair was extremely stubborn and taking care of this mess could take at least ten minutes.

“Hey,” Lucifer said as he saw Michael walk into the kitchen. Lucifer was leaning against the wall with a cup of coffee in his hands, with his other arm folded against his chest. Michael said hello and poured coffee into his mug and then poured cream and sugar into it. Lucifer wrinkled his nose in disgust. “Drinking coffee with cream and sugar is disgusting.”

“No, drinking black coffee is disgusting.” Michael retorted. 

“Black coffee is great. And it just so happens to match my soul.” Lucifer replied.

“Nonsense, Lucifer.” Michael said. “You have no soul.” 

“Touché.” Lucifer said, sipping his drink that matched his apparently nonexistent soul. “Hey, y’know what’s weird? I’ve noticed that my secretary, Dean, really likes the break room. I mean, the guy seems to be in there every moment of the day.” Lucifer was leading with a simple statement that would soon become a controversial topic. Michael knew this, as this was Lucifer’s classic approach to interviewing his witnesses. Lucifer looked up from his drink to closely observe his brother’s reaction to judge his reaction and possible opinion about the upcoming topic. Michael kept his face stonewalled, and wondered what the topic might be. At last he spoke.

“Yes, I seem to notice that Castiel has been doing the same.” Michael continued to wonder. “Lucifer you haven’t put anything in the room, have you?” Lucifer shook his head. 

“Have you…” Lucifer trailed off. Saying his next words may get Dean fired. Dean had been distracted by something and wasn’t focusing on his work as much as he usually was, but he liked him. Dean was a good kid, and it looked like he really needed the job. Lucifer decided to continue and if it went south, he would convince Michael he could fix it all. “Noticed some animosity between Dean and Castiel?” He looked over Michael’s shoulder, which stood in the entryway to the kitchen. Castiel was nowhere near, and neither were his siblings.

“Well of course.” Michael responded. Lucifer was surprised at his reaction. Castiel was Michael’s favorite sibling and everyone knew it. How could he allow Castiel to work with someone who didn’t like him? He wasn’t sure how Michael would respond but now that he had, Lucifer knew that the coast was clear, and let his guard down. 

“So what do you think?” Lucifer asked. “Dean’s a good guy, but it is Castiel we’re talking.”

“I don’t think anything.” Michael shrugged. “Sometimes they fight, but I don’t think anything serious is going on. If something is going on, we’ll know about it. Anyway, they’re either really close or at each other’s throats.” Michael stated.

Lucifer nodded. “Yeah, I’ve that happening. But for the last two weeks they’ve been really weird.” Michael raised an eyebrow. He hadn’t noticed anything different in the two. Of course, that could be entirely the Lew case’s fault. He had been spending so much of his time trying to find a solid defense for both Scott and Mary Lew. “It started one day, after I got back from lunch. Dean usually jokes around a lot. But that day he was really quiet. And I mean quieter than Castiel.” Michael was taken aback. Castiel was an exceptionally quiet person, and Michael had never met anyone more silent. “But I talked to Jody and she said she didn’t notice either of the boys leave for lunch.” Michael put the two facts together.

“Alright. So either Castiel did something, or Dean did. Should we ask them?” 

“No. If it was something they wanted to share with us, they would’ve done it already. But every day after that, they would only argue with each other.” Lucifer chuckled. “And about really pointless things, too.” 

“You’ve heard their fights?” Michael questioned, bringing his drink to his lips.

“Well, yeah. I mean they’re hilarious.” Lucifer replied.

“Did you hear the one where Dean accused Castiel with stealing his stapler?” Michael rushed.

“Yeah, yeah, and Castiel was like ‘Well, what if I just borrowed it?’” Lucifer said.

“And Dean was like ‘Whatever, did you take it?’” 

“And Castiel said ‘Yes, but only because you stole mine.’” They said in unison, laughing. 

“Did you see the one where Dean called Castiel ‘Feathers’? Right out of the blue?” Lucifer asked with his mug against his lips. Michael shook his head. “They were in the break room.” Michael shook his head again.

“I’ve never seen the break room ones.” 

“What?” Lucifer gawked. “Really? The best ones happen in there.”

“How do you see them?” Michael asked. 

“Y’know the cameras we installed?” Michael nodded in understanding. “Yup, I’ve got a live feed in my office.”

“Really?” Michael wondered.

“Yeah, I’ll show when we get to the office.” Lucifer pushed off of the wall and set his empty mug in the sink. “Hey, Castiel.” His younger brother walked into the kitchen wearing an olive green shirt and black slacks. Every part of him was neatly dressed, except for his hair. It looked to be harshly combed but somehow remained to resemble a bird’s nest. Castiel walked into the kitchen for a granola bar and Lucifer ruffled his hair when he was close enough. Castiel scowled and muttered something about having taken forever to have fixed his hair. 

“Good morning , Castiel. We’ll be leaving soon.” Michael looked over at Lucifer. 

“How do you like working in the office?” Lucifer asked.

“It’s fine. It’s nice to learn about the different careers available, since I haven’t picked one yet.”

“It’s funny, Castiel. I heard Dean Winchester say the same thing during his interview.” Michael said. Castiel seemed to straighten up and stand rigidly at the mention of the boy’s name. Lucifer shot his brother a look, which Castiel did not catch to the fact that his back was turned to them. 

“Speaking of him, what do you think of him?” Lucifer asked.

“He’s a nice person, but I haven’t talked to him much.” Castiel stated, hoping they wouldn’t catch the lie. 

“Oh, really?” Lucifer said in an accusing tone. Michael placed his hand on Lucifer’s shoulder.

“Lucifer, leave him alone. Castiel, I’ll take your word for it.” He turned to look at Lucifer. “Okay, let’s go.” Castiel walked out first, and his two older brothers trailed behind him. 

“Thank you, Lucifer that was perfect.” Lucifer smiled and explained that he was a natural actor.

***

“Hey Dean!” Sam called out as he saw his older brother running out of his room as he pulled on a blue tie. “I have to go to the library today, can you drive me?” 

“Yeah, sure, Sammy. Grab me something to eat.” He said trying to tie the knots to fix his tie. Mary shook her head at him. She walked over to him and straightened out the tie.

“Dean, honey, you should eat a full breakfast, not just something small.” She said.

“Sorry, Mom. My phone didn’t go off.” Mary shook her head, but smiled softly.

“Make sure you come home for lunch, then. You’ve grown up so fast, Dean.” She looked fondly at him, and Dean smiled back at her. “Go, now. You’re going to be late.” Dean ran to his car, and his younger brother ran after him with an apple in his hand. “Sam,” Mary said. 

“Yeah, I know, Mom. I’ll talk to him about it. I don’t know why you want me to do it, though.” 

“Just ask him.” She urged. Sam shrugged and ran outside. Dean was in the car and Sam slammed the door after getting inside.

“Hey! Watch it!” Dean chided. “What’d you get me?” Sam handed him the apple. Dean stared at the fruit. “Really?”

“It’s good for you. It can lower cholesterol. Which you do need to do.” Sam muttered the last sentence under his breath.

“Wow, Sammy. That’d be so interesting if I ate apples.” Dean rolled his eyes. Sam wringed his hands uneasily. Dean caught sight of his action. “What are you doing? You nervous or something?”

“Uh, or something?” Dean stared at him. “Fine. Dean, you’ve been really weird lately. Like you’re always upset or sad or something and-”

“I’m gonna stop you right there.” Dean said sneaking glances from the road to look at his brother. “Sammy, what’s the rule?”

“Uh,” Sammy racked his mind to think of which one would work best in this situation. He almost stated “Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cakehole”, which he had memorized after complaining about the music. They were in the car, but it didn’t seem to apply to the conversation. Then it clicked. “No chick flick moments.” 

“That’s right. You know that. No touchy-feely moments. So, no, we’re not continuing this conversation. Now, out you go.” The car was parked outside of the library and Sam scowled in defeat. He walked into the library and Dean drove away. Sam knew the rules, and he wouldn’t ask such a question. His mother must have asked him to ask. Dean sighed. He didn’t want to worry his mother, so he had been trying to pretend as though he had no problems at work.

He didn’t really have problems; it was just that he had somehow developed an unhealthy obsession with trying to befriend a random person he had met only a month ago. If pretending hadn’t worked, Dean realized that he would have to stop pretending and fix things with Castiel. If he could fix this problem, he wouldn’t be upset at home, and his mother wouldn’t be worried. It seemed simple enough. Dean could fix this.

***

Lucifer peeked out of his office. He needed Dean to call Mrs. Tran to let her know that her appointment was being moved up an hour. He didn’t see Dean at his desk though. He did see Michael, who happened to be looking for Castiel to copy some papers for him. Michael turned his head to look at his younger brother.

“Break room?” Michael questioned.

“Break room.” Lucifer nodded. Michael left his office doorway to enter Lucifer’s office. Lucifer opened the internet tab of the cameras that recorded the office and clicked on the video featuring the break room. He turned on his speakers and turned the screen so that Michael could see. “Shh.” Lucifer warned Michael. Castiel was fixing himself a cup of coffee, unaware that Dean was now in the room looking cautiously at the other boy. “Castiel never starts the conversations,” Lucifer said, breaking his own rules. “He’s too shy.” Michael nodded.

“Yeah, Dean is really nice to him. Inias told me no one’s really nice to him in schools, except for Summer.” Michael said. Dean said something to Castiel to get his attention. Lucifer shushed Michael again. Castiel stopped stirring his coffee, but he didn’t respond.

“Cas, c’mon.” Dean tried again. Castiel sighed and turned around, his blue eyes not upset, not angry, simply tired. Dean immediately felt bad after seeing him like this. He thought about just letting him go, telling Castiel that he had nothing to say to him, or that he had forgotten what he wanted to say. He thought about this, but shoved these thoughts aside. “Cas. Listen, I’m sorry. I’m not sure why we started fighting in the first place, but all I know is it’s really stupid. We’re going to be working together for a really long time, and well I think we should at least be civil towards each other.” Dean rubbed the back of his neck, a nervous tick that happened subconsciously. “And, maybe more than civil, but at least that, y’know?” Castiel sighed. 

“You’re right, Dean. I really like you, and I don’t think we can accomplish anything by arguing with each other.” Dean smiled and Castiel did, too. Dean didn’t completely understand why he hadn’t done this earlier; it only took him a few minutes to apologize and now they were back to talking. “C’mon. We’d better get going. We don’t want you brothers to think we’re coming here to cut our hours in half or something.”

“Well, you’re the only one who has to worry.” Dean looked at Castiel, who just shrugged. “They won’t fire me; I’m their brother. You don’t have that advantage, unfortunately.”

“They wouldn’t fire their brother’s friend, would they?” Dean asked. Castiel thought about this. Dean was his friend? Would this awkward month be considered a friendship? He had never had experiences as strange as the ones he had had with Dean before with a friend. Or maybe Dean was asking if they could be friends. Castiel would like that. After all, if they were friends, he would have a better chance of going out with Dean, wouldn’t he? Castiel smiled.

“I think that would work.”

***

Castiel had hummed happily to himself later that day when he went home with his brothers. Lucifer had looked at Michael and smiled, content that his brother was now happy, unlike the days past. Castiel walked up the stairs to his room with a small smile on his face. Dean and Castiel had talked for the rest of the day, about random things that seemed like random nothings, but somehow, it felt like everything for him. He hadn't seen the golden specks that sprinkled the other boy's clover-green eyes. He hadn't noticed that the specks matched the freckles that were splattered lightly over his features, that seemed to glow today. It seemed impossible that he had never before realized the way his dark pink lips turned up in a lopsided grin that Castiel couldn't find anything other than heart-meltingly cute. Mostly, he couldn't believe how excited and enthusiastic someone like Dean Winchester could be about a conversation with someone like Castiel Novak.

Castiel opened his door to find an envelope on his desk. Curious as to what the small folded paper container may include, Castiel opened the envelope. He pulled out a neatly folded letter that was creased into three sections. He opened the sides up and his eyes were immediately glued to the blue and white header. He read the letter slowly, with shaking hands. It read:

"Dear Mr. Novak,  
We are very grateful to have received your application and are increasingly impressed with your resume and transcript. Although your SAT, ACT, and SAT II scores are rather high, we do not believe you would be a proper fit for our university..." 

Castiel stopped reading after that. His eyes wandered over the remaining words, but he didn't process them. He placed the paper on his desk and looked blankly at his wall. A gentle rapping sounded at his door, and he didn't respond to it. He couldn't form the words in his head, let alone his mouth. After a few minutes Lucifer walked in, a worried expression etched on his face.

"Castiel? Are you okay?" Lucifer nudged his brother's shoulder. He caught sight of the paper on his desk and picked it up. He read the letter, agitation increasing as he read longer. "What?" He muttered in a low, deathly fashion. "This is bullshit. Utter bullshit." He looked at his brother and his voice rose. "Castiel, your GPA is higher than anyone in your grade. The only reason that kid Ash was valedictorian is because his uncle is the damn principal. You probably have the record for most APs taken, this is ridiculous." By this time, Hannah had told Michael that "Lucifer is screaming for some unknown reason and you should probably fix it". Anna was looking out of her room with Hael, wondering what the cause of the commotion was. Michael walked into Castiel's room and, upon seeing how angry Lucifer was, placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Lucifer-" Michael started, but his younger brother wasn't having it. 

"Michael, no. You know what an amazing student Castiel is. Tell me you don't think something fishy is going on here. It's impossible to think that-"

"I don't think there's anything wrong going on here." Lucifer's eyes blazed but he said nothing as he walked out of the room to the basement which held his room. The other Novaks knew better than to involve themselves in a matter than held Michael and Lucifer at each other's throats. Michael turned to Castiel. "Listen, Castiel. You're smart. You know that you're not going to be accepted to every university. And, on the bright side, now you won't have a hard time decided on which college you would like to go to."

"Michael if I wasn't accepted to Yale, you know I won't be accepted to Harvard." Michael sighed. It had been Castiel's dream to go to Harvard. After Summer had decided to follow a career in astrophysics and attend Boston University, he had planned to attend Harvard, so that they could be close to each other, to become a lawyer. At this rate, Michael would joke, all of our siblings will become lawyers. "Yale's acceptance rate is 6.3%, while Harvard's is 5.9%." Michael sighed.

"You have to let go of the numbers in your head and focus on faith." Michael was always deeply religious, even through the death of their parents, unlike Lucifer, who immediately let go of their spirituality. It was almost as though the two brothers led their family in opposing directions. Hannah had stayed true to the path of Michael, still deeply religious. Inias seemed to forget and avoid religion altogether, and Hael and Anna were too young to decide, although Castiel had always believed that Anna did not favor God or his angels. Castiel was a mercurial mix of both Lucifer and Michael, sometimes able to put his faith in the Almighty, but sometimes, he couldn't fathom a god that would allow suffering to unfold on His world. Michael would always say that humans were too small to understand the mysterious ways in which God worked. Castiel never understood that either; why didn't God allow his creations to understand these ways if he really made them?

"I have faith." Castiel replied. Michael smiled at that. "I have faith in my work." Michael's smile didn't waver at his thoughts against Christianity. The ever supporting brother he was, Michael patted Castiel on the shoulder.

"Good, Castiel. Always have faith in something. It will keep you up when all others fall down." Michael walked out of his room, and that night, those words rang through Castiel's ears.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! This one's sorta long. IMPORTANT NOTICE: If you can draw a cover for this fic, I would be extremely grateful, because I'm putting this up on Wattpad and I don't have a cover for it. If could spread the word about this, it'd be AMAZING. Thanks, and please enjoy!

Dean set his things on his desk messily, too busy watching Castiel type furiously at his keyboard. He was wearing a blue shirt and gray slacks, washed and ironed perfectly. Dean looked at his hair that seemed to be sticking up from different sides. His hair was messy and not fixed, but somehow seemed to complete the look with a sense that just seemed like Cas. Castiel leaned back in his chair as he stopped typing to review his work. He noticed Dean staring at him out of the corner of his eye and turned to smile at him.

"Hello Dean." 

"Hey Cas." Dean licked his lips. "I like your hair." Castiel looked at his monitor to find out what was different about his hair. He realized that he had forgot to comb it. His face reddened as he cursed his family for being so welcoming and supportive that they simply thought he wanted to try out a new hairstyle when in reality he had completely forgotten about it. Now Dean was laughing at him and he would never live this down. He rushed to fix it and Dean cried out. "No, what're you doing? I like it, it looks really good!" Castiel stopped hands still in his hair. "Here, wait." Dean reached over and pushed parts of his hair down while pulling up others and then running his fingers through most of it. 

"Dean I-" Lucifer stopped mid-sentence when he saw Dean standing above his brother, concentration clear on his face, and Castiel flushing bright red. A smirk crept across his features, and Lucifer walked back into his office. He pulled out his phone and sent a text to his older brother. He set a bet with Michael, on whether or not Castiel and Dean would be dating. Michael had said that although they seemed like a couple, it would never happen because Dean is "so obviously straight". 

"There." Dean took a step back. "Perfect."

"Sorry. I thought you were being sarcastic." Castiel mumbled looking down.

"No, really. It looks good." Dean bit his lip as he thought about how the longest step was running his fingers through his dark hair. It wasn't necessary, but he had taken time with it, and had felt a strange sense of affection with it. He thought about running his fingers through his hair once more and Dean felt warmth on his face. He quickly sat at his desk, and peeked over at Castiel's computer screen. "What's that?"

"I was recently accepted to Harvard. I'm writing an email to reply." Castiel's smile showed off his pink lips and Dean couldn't help but smile, too.

"Harvard? That's amazing, Cas." Dean thought about his own future for a moment. He mind crossed the topic of college and he realized he hadn't even told Sam he wasn't going. 

"Have you thought about any universities, Dean?" Castiel's words snapped Dean from his thoughts.

Dean looked at Castiel. "Oh, uh, no. Not really." 

"That's alright. I'm sure you'll figure it out soon." He answered gently. Dean looked at the offices, and when he was sure that Michael or Lucifer weren't leaving anytime soon, he replied.

"Cas, I'm not going to college." Castiel tried not to display his shock.

"But why not, Dean? You're the football captain. You could easily get a football scholarship."

Dean continued with a sigh. He had heard this from everyone. "I can't. Even if I got a full ride, I wouldn't have as much time to help my mom out with bills." He looked again. "That's why I'm taking up this job. What I told your brother in that interview..." Castiel didn't blame Dean for avoiding the truth. But if he had stated the truth of his situation Michael would have awarded him with the job on the spot. He would have been able to connect with Dean, having to take care of his family with every chance given. 

"You'll find something you like to do, Dean. And that's all that matters." Normally, Dean would groan at the cheesiness of the statement, but he felt sincerity in Castiel's statement. 

"Thanks, Cas."

***

When Michael walked out of his office to ask Castiel if he would be alright with going home for lunch, he had accepted. Usually, he liked to stay in the office for his lunch break and talk to Dean, but today Dean had informed him that his mother had asked him to come home for lunch. After finishing his lunch, Castiel stayed in his room for some time. He lay on his bed and thought about college. Soon he'd no longer be here. He'd be whisked away to Massachusetts. He'd miss his home and his family. He'd miss his friends; Charlie and Kevin. He thought about leaving Michael and Lucifer, who had taken care of him even when their parents had been alive. He'd miss Hannah's way of saying and doing the things she thought in a rather fearless way that Castiel himself had known once. He'd miss helping Anna and Hael with their homework, and the pointless fights they would engage in. He'd miss Inias. Inias had been there for Castiel all the time. They could talk about anything; Castiel was so close to him that Inias was the first person Castiel came out to. He couldn't think about living without him, but the thought of calling his twin everyday stuck with him. And then, the thought he had been avoiding, came at him.

Dean. He knew Dean wouldn't be going to college, and that he would stay in Lawrence. He would see Dean whenever he came home for his breaks, but he didn't think that would be enough. He had seen the boy's green eyes wandering around various school hallways, but they had never stuck with as they did now. If someone had told him that he would have fallen for the captain of the school football team, Castiel would have taken a moment to think about the person and realized that he didn't know him and laughed at the person. But now it seemed surreal that he had fallen in love in the space of two months with a boy that he would soon never see again. Castiel was pulled away from his heartbreaking thoughts when his brother walked into his room.

"Inias, hello." Castiel's voice cracked and sounded dry. 

Worry washed in Inias' eyes. "Castiel, are you okay?" 

"Yes, of course." He looked away for a moment and cleared his throat. "Just thinking about college, is all." Inias sat next to his brother. 

"I know what you mean. People you've grown up with, friends," he turned to look closely at Castiel, "family. You have to leave them. But it's just a part of growing up. We have to do it sometime." He smiled. "Who knows? Maybe you'll join Michael and Lucifer with their firm."

"They'd have to change the sign." Castiel's thoughts became lighter.

"Novak, Novak, & Novak." They stated in unison, laughing, suddenly feeling much lighter. "Don't worry. It'll be alright."

"Inias you need to stop spending so much time with Michael. You're starting to sound too much like him; it's creepy." Inias laughed and pulled a twenty dollar bill out of his pocket. Castiel looked at the bill in confusion.

"The bet?" Castiel squinted at his brother. Inias sighed. "We bet on the amount of time Lucifer's secretary would have the job. I forgot about it, but it's been two months, so here." Castiel took the bill with a smirk. Inias scoffed at him and continued. "How'd you know the guy'd be staying there so long? I mean, it's not like he's good at this type of thing either. It's Dean Winchester, not like he can do much other than throw a football around and pick up women." 

"That's not true, Inias." Castiel was upset with his comment. "You can't judge someone you don't even know." 

"Yeah, and you do?" Inias replied, fire in his voice. His eyes widened slightly when Castiel blushed silently. "Castiel, are you guys friends now?" Castiel nodded. Inias stood for effect. "Well, that's exactly it! If Dean Winchester, the most popular guy in the school, other than Crowley, but he's only popular because he's a dick, is friends with you, than why do people not like you? I don't get it! If the bothered to sit down and talk to you they'd realize that all the rumors are wrong!" He sat down with a sound of frustration. 

"People will always be judgmental-"

"Assholes. They'll always be judgmental assholes." Castiel laughed. "So Dean's the secretary, huh? How is he?" These simple words made Castiel's eyes sparkle and his lips curve up in a smile. Castiel regaled his twin with tales of the green-eyed boy. "Whoa." Inias said. He grinned evilly at his brother. "You've got the hots for Dean." Castiel turned completely pale, and then red with embarrassment. Castiel shook his head, unable to construct a sentence to refute the accusation. "Don't lie. C'mon, I've known you since the day we were born. I know you like him. Also, no one goes into that much detail when describing someone." Castiel sighed.

"I do, but I already told Summer and she is always trying to find out what happened every day." He grabbed his phone from his desk and handed it to Inias. "Look for yourself." Inias scrolled through endless texts from Summer, which were answered by numerous messages that said "Summer, please leave me be, I am very tired”. Inias handed the phone back and Castiel continued. 

"I won't bug you about it, man." Inias looked down and thought about how to approach the situation at hand. "But, uh, you do know he's trying to ask you out, right?" Castiel's eyes darted up to stare at his brother, trying to figure out if this was some sick joke. Inias's eyes stayed unwavering, and he didn't crack a smile. 

"No, he isn't. Dean is straight." Castiel wouldn't let himself get his hopes up just to have them crushed. 

"Castiel, he was stuck staring at you. He makes you laugh and then he smiles immediately after, which implies that he likes making you laugh. He skips his lunch break to sit and talk with you." Inias stared at Castiel, and when it looked like he might argue, Inias continued. "He used pick-up lines on you."

"No, he told me-" 

"No."

"But he-"

"No."

"-Friend pick-up lines-" Castiel tried to say. But Inias wasn't having it.

"Those don't exist, Castiel!" He sighed, exasperated. "He likes you! He probably doesn't know how to ask you, is all." Castiel looked at him.

"So what should I do?" Castiel asked, genuinely confused. Inias leaned back onto Castiel's bed.

"Just ask him out first." Castiel stared at his twin, dumbfounded. What if Dean didn't like him back? Then he thought about what had happened just a few hours prior. He remembered the way Dean allowed his fingers a few extra moments to linger in Castiel's hair. He remembered the way Dean had bit his lip while staring at Castiel's hair. He could do this.

***

"Charlie, I'm not doing that! It's ridiculous! Don't you remember what happened with your 'Friend pick-up lines’.”

“Actually, I don’t because you never told me.” Charlie sassed.

“I said the one about his eyes and then I couldn’t stop staring because of his eyes, and he grabbed my hands and red them all.” Dean rushed out. Charlie put her hand over the microphone and laughed. She returned to the phone.

“Look, Dean. Everyone talks in lunch. Because school’s out, you’ll get have to just go to lunch with him.” Charlie said. Dean couldn’t believe his friend had even suggested this. How did that not sound like a date? “Dean, it won’t sound like a date.” Dean groaned as he realized she had heard him. “Just tell him you’d like to get to know him, y’know?” 

“No, Charlie, that’s ridiculous. I’m not doing it.”

“Suit yourself.”

***

Dean had returned early from his break to see Castiel. He parked his car and noticed Castiel walking into the building. He hadn’t noticed Michael and Lucifer stayed behind after Lucifer had seen Dean’s car. He wanted to see what would happen. Dean ran up to Castiel, and called out his name. Castiel turned around and smiled when he saw Dean. Lucifer looked at Michael and smirked.

“Shut up, Lucifer. You’re not going to win this bet.”

***

Dean glanced at the lower right corner of his computer screen. The time read 5:56. Four miuntes and the next time Dean would see Castiel would be Monday. He licked his lips and stood up from his desk. He walked over to Castiel's desk and willed himself to form the words. The were there, on the tip of his tongue, formed in his mind. But the moment Castiel noticed him and turned around to look at Dean, the words died away. The lost message so far, unable to even be remembered. Castiel's smile threw Dean's confidence down, and his ocean blue eyes took away Dean's physical support. 

"Hi Dean." Castiel said. Dean tried to form some words, as many as possible, but they turned to a garbled sentence.

"Hey- uh, lunch? Me and uh you tomorrow? Um, I mean-" Castiel's chuckle cut Dean off midsentence.

"Yes, Dean. I'd love to go out with you." Castiel looked up at Dean with blue eyes filled with excitement. Dean was so shocked that Castiel had taken it that way, but he simply didn't have the heart to turn him down. 

"Oh, okay. Thanks." Dean said, turning slightly red. Castiel pulled a post it off of his notepad and scribbled something down on it. He handed it to Dean, who studied it closely. It was his number. Dean looked up and smiled weakly at his friend and walked back to his desk. He turned his chair away to keep his shocked expression to himself.

***

Michael looked at his rearview mirror to see and ecstatic Castiel. He glanced at Lucifer who shrugged. Castiel raced inside as soon as Michael parked and Lucifer looked at Michael with a knowing smile.

"You better get my money ready, big bro." Lucifer teased. Michael paled slightly. He wasn't one to lose a bet. Lucifer laughed at his change in color.

"Shut up, Lucifer."

***

"Inias!" Castiel called through the house. Hael walked up to her older brother, her dark hair tied into braids by Anna. 

"He's upstairs." She said. Castiel smiled at her and thanked her. He walked up the stairs and knocked on Inias' door. 

"Hey, Castiel." Inias was looking through a magazine, and he didn't pay Castiel much attention.

"Dean asked me out." Inias looked up over the edge of the magazine. Castiel was smiling from ear to ear. He put the magazine down and smirked.

"What'd I tell you?" Inias said. "So what'd he say?"

"Well, he seemed really nervous and he stuttered it out, and I said 'yes'." 

"He give you his number?"

"No, I gave him mine." Castiel stood silent for a moment. "Is that okay? Maybe I should have asked him for his number instead." 

"Nah, It doesn't really matter as long you can get in touch."

"I haven't told Summer yet. I should probably do that now."

"Yeah, that'll keep you busy for a good two hours."

"That'd be lucky, Inias. I'll be there for three." Inias laughed as his brother left. He tiptoed out of his room and made sure Castiel was on the phone. He walked into the living room where Hannah was watching Anna and Hael. Hannah looked up at Inias, her blue eyes slightly confused. He moved a couple of steps to his right, to where the hallway that joined Michael's and Lucifer's bedrooms was located beneath the floorboards on which he stood. 

"Hey, everyone!" He yelled. Castiel put his phone down as he thought he heard something. When Inias paused for dramatic effect, Castiel thought he was hearing things. Anna looked up at her older brother and Hael was squirming to turn around while her hair was in Anna's hands. "Castiel's got a boyfriend!" A cheer was heard from the floor beneath them and a loud smack was also heard. Loud footsteps sounded on the steps. Michael ran in, pushing Lucifer to the side to get upstairs before him. 

"Castiel!" Castiel froze and placed his phone on his bed. Michael's voice was loud and angry. He steeped down the stairs carefully.

"Y-Yes?" Michael smiled. 

"Castiel, who is it?"" When Castiel looked at him, with a confused stare, Michael clarified. "Your new boyfriend." 

"Um, Dean." Michael's face turned red. "I thought you were mad, Michael." Castiel continued, explaining his timdiness.

"Oh, he's mad Castiel." Castiel stiffened. "Because he lost a bet with me. Pay up." Lucifer said, hhis palm opened. Michael pulled out his wallet and grabbed a fiffty dollar bill and handed it to his younger brother. "This is going to be framed. 'The day I proved Michael worng.' That's what it's going to say." Michael glared at Lucifer, who simply laughed.

"You have a boyfriend?" Hannah asked. Castiel nodded and Anna cut in. 

"Is he cute?" She asked, eager to get the details. Castiel turned red and nodded. 

"Please don't let this affect your work." Michael said.

"Yeah, Cas. I'm going to need my secretary every now and then." Castiel's eyebrow's furrowed. Michael noticed and elbowed Lucifer. 

"Only Dean calls me 'Cas'." Castiel said.

"Uh," Lucifer began. He looked to Michael for help.

"I'm not bailing you out on this one." Michael shook his head.

"Hey you watched 'em, too!"

"Watched?" Castiel asked. The older brothers looked at each other. "You watched me and Dean?!"

"Castiel, c'mon!" Castiel sighed in annoyance and began to walk to his room. "There were cameras, you guys were asking for it!"


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi! So long time now see. I'm not very good with date kinda fluff, so it's kinda short and crappy. Please leave criticism and/or compliments below!

Dean had driven home in complete silence. Even the radio wasn't on. His mind was blank, and his hands were turning the steering wheel and his feet were pushing the pedals. His walked directly to his room and Sam simply shrugged the strange action as his brother feeling tired. Dean realized what had happened and that Castiel would be waiting on his call. Dean picked up his phone, but instead of calling Castiel, he dialed Charlie's number. He paused. Charlie was the one who had gotten him into this mess. He cleared the digits and typed in Benny's number instead and when his friend picked up on the other line, Dean explained to him his situation.

"Brother, you've got yourself in one hot mess." Benny chuckled.

"Yeah, I know that, Benny. I need to know what to do." Dean replied.

"That's your road to choose. Left or right, go on the date or don't. I don't want to help you decide what happens next, Dean. That's for you to decide." Dean groaned at how unhelpful Benny's statement was. "But whatever you do, go easy on him." Dean said his goodbyes and sarcastically thanked his friend. He thought about what he had said; did Benny want him to cancel whatever this was with Castiel? Dean didn't understand why he dreaded this thought other than that he didn't want Castiel to be upset or hurt. He knew the last person he wanted to talk to about something like this was probably the only person he could go to for help. He walked to the room, and knocked hesitantly. A voice allowed him to enter, and he followed.

"Mom, I need some help." Mary was reading, and she put down her book and gave her son a reassuring smile. 

"Sit down, honey." She said, as though she had done this a million times. Dean sat down and sighed.

"I told you about Castiel, right?" Dean asked, wondering if he and his mother were on the same page. She nodded. "Well, I want to be really good friends with him, so I asked Charlie for advice on how to do that, and she told me to ask about, um, having lunch together. And I was trying to make it sound completely platonic, but I kind of messed up and he replied with 'I'd love to go out on a date with you'. I'm not really sure what to do." Mary had been nodded and listening intently.

"Well, it seems to me like you have two choices. One, you can tell him that you didn't mean for it to be a date. That could either lead to Castiel saying okay and going with things just as they were, or it could make him feel embarrassed and could put your friendship in an awkward standstill or stop." Dean visibly cringed at that thought. There was something about Castiel that was simply electric, something that Dean didn't want to let go of. "Or two, you can go on the date." Dean was confused at that, so he allowed his mother to continue. "You can let him down easily, and then ask him if you can still stay friends. He'll most likely say yes, because you had the heart to try things out, rather than coming to an assumption." Dean liked that idea. Castiel was a deep person who liked people of worthy character and this plan of action would certainly show that. He was about to thank his mother, when he realized she still had one more thing to say. "Of course, that is if you don't like the date. If you do like it..." She trailed off and looked at Dean, watching him as he turned bright red.

***

Inias was looking through Castiel's wardrobe, pulling different articles of clothing off of their hangers and out of their shevles to study closely, only to be strewn across the floor. There was a pile of shirts, pants, trouser, dress shirts, and sweaters thrown all over his twin brother's bed. Castiel was sitting at his desk, his bed far too much of a mess to sit on. He had tried to tell Inias to stop and that he would find his own outfit without making a mess, but he wasn't having it. "No, Castiel, this has got be just reight, y'know?" He had said. "I mean, you don't want this to be your last date with Dean, do you?" Castiel had replied with "No, of course not, I really like Dean." And with that, Inias had continued to make a complete mess of Castiel's room.

"Inias, what are you doing?" Hannah asked. Castiel sighed in relief. If anyone could get Inias out of his room, it was Hannah. She was very stubborn when she needed to be. "Michael wants Castiel to be on time for this date." Castiel groaned. His entire family apparently had nothing better to do than worry about this date. Hannah and Inias had had many dates, but this date was annoyingly important to them. Maybe it was because this was Castiel's first date. "And with the way you're getting him ready, he'll be late." Hannah felt very strongly about rules and the orders of Michael and Lucifer, so if needbe she would physically pick Inias up and throw him out the room. "I can help him get ready; I know what guys like." Castiel groaned again, tired of Inias saying what he thought guys would "like". She grabbed a fallen sweater.

"No, you know what you "think" guys like." Inias pulled the sweater from her hands. "I'm a guy, so I know what guys like. It's logic that you, Hannah, wouldn't understand."

Hannah kept a straight face. "Oh, you're a guy, really?" Sh easked, slamming him with the classic insult. Inias rolled his eyes. "That scream of yours when I put that fake spider on your bed definitely wasn't manly."

"That was two years ago!" Inias yelled back.

"Well some things never change." She smirked, blue eyes flashing with cockiness. 

"Castiel, are you ready?" Michael's voice boomed from below. 

"Uh, yeah, almost." Castiel replied. Inias gave up and left the room. Castiel turned to his sister. "Hannah, you need to go. I need to get ready, you heard Michael."

"Michael's not mad. I just told him to say it to get Inias out of here and to stop bothering you. You should wear whatever you want, Castiel." She turned to go, but stopped at the door. "But I think you should go with your trench coat."

***

Dean left at 8:00 as a result of his mother’s grooming and compliments. He also had to punch his brother after being teased about his “date” and his “boyfriend”. He had called Castiel earlier to let him know that their lunch plans would have to become dinner plans, due to his uncertainty about the situation. Castiel had politely agreed, stating that it didn’t interfere with any of his plans. Dean called Castiel again to remind him of their date.

“Hey, Cas.”

“Hello, Dean.” Castiel’s voice was uncharacteristically high, and he seemed overjoyed at the sound of Dean’s voice. Dean felt a soft smile fall across his face.

“I’m like ten minutes away. So…” Dean trailed off, not quite sure what to say.

“I’ll be there.” Castiel said.

“Right. See you there.” Dean ended the call and placed his phone down. He remembered the address from the text he had sent him. He drove slowly, for once in his life, and thought about tonight. What was he supposed to do? He thought, most likely, it’d be the same as all of his other dates, just this time, with a guy. He could do that. But how was he going to let Castiel down easily? Rejection is never is easy, for both parties. And to tell someone that they only liked them platonically, and then to ask of them so much as to remain friends? His mother’s words rang in his ears; what if he did enjoy the date? Dean immediately shrugged off the idea, as he didn’t believe it possible. He wasn’t gay, and he only liked Castiel as a friend. He thought back to when he first met Castiel and the unexplainable feeling that caused him to talk to him. He thought about how he felt when he heard Castiel’s laugh and how he never wanted to live without a sound as beautiful as that. He ignored the thoughts as the luxurious house came into view. Dean looked at the number. 66 Shurley Avenue. He parked on the side of the road and walked up the path to the house. He rang the doorbell, and the door opened to reveal Michael.

“It’s nice to see you, Dean.” Dean managed a smile.

“Same here.” Dean remembered the nature of the situation and added: “Uh, sir.”

Michael looked over his shoulder to call for Castiel. Castiel ran down the stairs and appeared at the door slightly red. 

“Hello, Dean.” Dean’s smile turned genuine at that. 

“Hey, Cas.” Castiel’s blue eyes, were electric, matching the joyfulness of his small grin. They said their goodbyes, and Castiel and Dean walked down the path in silence. Unsure of what to say, the two boys remained quiet. Dean hurried his pace to reach the passenger’s side to open the car door for his date. Castiel thanked him and Dean walked to the other side. He got inside and turned the key to start the engine. 

“Dean, this car is beautiful.” Castiel said in awe. His hand traced over the leather seat.

“Thanks. My dad gave it to me before he left.” There was a pause, a gap, in which no words were exchanged.

“I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to bring anything up.”

“It’s fine, Cas. You didn’t know.” Dean looked over to see Castiel was in a coat. “Nice trench coat.” 

Castiel smiled and silently thanked Hannah. “It was a birthday present from my brother, Balthazar.” Dean raised an eyebrow.

“Wait, I thought you only had three brothers: Michael, Lucifer, and Inias.” Dean knew the names easily, as two were his bosses, and the other was a reoccurring character in many of Castiel stories.

“Balthazar had run away. He’s staying with some friends, and hasn’t visited since last year, when he gave me this.” He said, pulling at the coat. “My sister, Hannah, advised me to wear it.”

“Well she must have a good eye. Hannah’s the one’s who’s going to be a sophomore next year, right?” Castiel nodded. Dean had been very accepting of Castiel’s large family, instead of cracking jokes and insulting Castiel about it like the people at school had. “Yeah, she was in Sammy’s history class.” They reached the restaurant and when Dean’s eyes rested on the valet at the front of the building, Dean realized that Benny wasn’t lying when he said the place was classy. He looked down at his own shirt and tie and felt slightly underdressed. He stepped out of the car and Castiel did the same. He handed the keys to the valet, and also left the young man with an incredibly stern warning (which could have been seen as a vague threat). 

Dean was thankful for his luck that, as late as he had set it up, his reservation did come through. They were led to a table which was set with two small vases of flowers and a white candle in the middle. The candle contrasted the red tablecloth exquisitely. The hostess left them to return to her other duties. Castiel was struggling with his coat, so Dean helped him out of it, and placed it on the back of his chair, which he pulled out Castiel. A girl at a nearby table smacked her boyfriend lightly on the arm, and chided, “Why don’t you ever treat me like that?” After sitting down, Dean realized that Castiel was wearing a suit and Dean felt even more underdressed.

A silence settled between the two and Dean felt uncomfortable. ”So, uh, Cas.” He began. Castiel’s eyes stared back at him and Dean forgot what he was going to say. So he thought of something else. “‘Castiel’. What does it mean?” 

“Not so much as ‘mean’, as ‘who’. It’s the name of an angel.” Dean’s eyes went wide. The name of the restaurant was in French, but it wasn’t hard to translate. Ange Bleue or “Blue Angel” was the name of the restaurant Benny had told him to go to. Charlie had to have had something to do with this. Dean sighed. “Is something wrong?” Castiel tilted his head.

“No, I just realized why my friend had advised me to have the date here.” Dean didn’t continue, and Castiel perceived that as a signal to end the conversation. The silence settled between them again.

“I’m sensing,” Castiel paused to find the right word to describe the situation, “awkwardness.” 

Dean turned a little red at that. “Well, I mean, it’s just that it’s a date, y’know?” Dean rubbed the back of his neck, a nervous habit. 

“If it makes you feel any better, you can just pretend that we’re back at the office. It seems that we talk a lot there.” Castiel tried. Dean thought about that. Castiel was right; they did talk more at the office.

“Thanks.” Dean remembered being in the office. He tried to think of what they’d talk about. Now it seemed like random nonsense, strange thoughts that floated into his mind and suddenly escaped through his lips. And then Castiel would reply with some logical answer to his ridiculous comment. Dean tried this method again: “Hey Cas? What if monkeys had human feet for both hands and feet?” Castiel replied by looking quizzical for a moment.

“I suppose it would be difficult for them at first, but soon enough they’d adapt to the situation.” Castiel replied.

“It’s a good thing they don’t, ‘cause otherwise they’d learn to use it against us and then it’d be like some cheap Syfy movie.” Castiel laughed at that, which started the chain reaction that caused Dean to smile. They continued into their normal routine, and, even throughout their meal, they talked and laughed uproariously, as though no one was there. 

Dean laughs whenever Castiel tilts his head because of something he had said that Castiel didn’t seem to catch onto. He tells his friend that it’s nothing, and, of course, he’s never laughing at his confusion. It’s simply the face he makes when he doesn’t completely understand something. He wishes in that moment, that he was one (if not all) of Castiel’s teachers, just so he could see that look. But that wouldn’t work, because Dean knows that Castiel is smart; he’s so wickedly clever and there’s no way that he could ever be confused in class, and even when Dean asks him about it, and he says that he does, Dean doesn’t buy it for a second, because Castiel is just so wickedly smart.

So he settles for making more references that he knows Castiel won’t understand, just so he can see that look again. That look that has Castiel squinting his unbelievably blue eyes, and Dean would normally hate it when Castiel squints because then he loses his view of the sea in his eyes. But the way his lips purse slightly, and the way that the head tilt is almost mechanical, always the same amount and always to Dean’s left, has Dean wondering if there actually could be something more amazing than Castiel’s eyes.

Castiel watches Dean laugh with his whole body; the way the skin at the edge of his eyes seem to wrinkle and the way his lips stretch, struggling to spread across his teeth. His whole essence seems to glow, illuminated by a feeling that reaches far beyond happiness. 

And Castiel finds himself confused for most of the time that evening, as he simply couldn’t decipher the meaning of some of Dean’s statements. He’d watch Dean laugh right after that, but when he confronted him about it, Dean’s expression turned solemn: “No, Cas. I’d never laugh at you.” He’d say and when he’d start to wonder if Dean was lying, he’d grab his hand and reiterate his statement. Castiel would look into his eyes, a gift that he had that he could use to tell if people were lying. He’d see that Dean would never lie, and he’d smile again. 

At around 9:15, Dean remembered that Michael wanted Castiel home soon. “Hey Cas,” Dean said. By now they had both finished, and they were simply talking. “Your brother wanted you home by 9:30, so we had better get a move on.” Dean reached into his back pocket, coming out with a fifty dollar bill. He waved their waiter over, a young lady by the Bela, and placed the bill in the small leather folder and handed it back to her. The two rose, and Dean helped his date into his coat and they walked outside.

Dean was happy to find that his car was fine (he spent five minutes checking her over) and, again, opened the door for Castiel, who blushed. Dean smiled at his change in color. Dean reminisced about the main events of their date, and by the time he dropped Castiel at his house and even after he gave Castiel the goodbye kiss that Castiel had initiated, Dean had completely forgotten about having to let Castiel down easily.

He forgot when parked his car in the driveway of his home.

He forgot when his mother had asked him about what had happened. 

He even forgot about it when Sam had asked about it.

He forgot about letting Castiel down, because he was too busy thinking about how much he loved Castiel.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I know it's a short chapter, and I'm real sorry about that. Also, I know I haven't been updating as well as I should have been. Only two chapters left (not including this one)! But please enjoy, and if you're into music while reading like I am, listen to Paramore's "Misguided Ghosts" during this chapter.

Dean was sprawled across the soft couch in Charlie’s house. Benny roughly shoved Dean’s legs to the side, causing him to let out a lazy grunt of surprise. “So, Dean,” Benny asked, his southern drawl stretching the syllables. “Are you going to tell us about your date?” Dean buried his head further into the couch.

“Yeah, Dean-o. Let’s hear about it.” The redheaded girl pulled a chair out and sat down. “How’d it go?” Dean’s silence continued and Charlie sighed. “Dude, we’ve got like, 5 minutes before Cas gets here.” Dean’s head rose almost immediately. 

“Cas is gonna be here?” His eyes were wide like a child opening birthday presents. Benny smiled knowingly at Charlie.

“It must’ve went well.” Dean flipped over and sat up. Glaring at both of them, but saying nothing.

“Well, he’s not denying.” Charlie said.

“Shut up.” Dean snapped. “It didn’t go ‘well’. It went awesome. Castiel is an adorable son of a bitch.” While Dean was talking, the group of friends was heavily distracted by his story, and they didn’t seem to notice Castiel walking into the house. He heard Dean talking about their date, albeit a little grumpily, But Castiel supposed he must have been tired. A smile made its way onto his face, but it faltered when he heard Charlie speak.

“It was really nice of you to go for Castiel, Dean.” Charlie said. Dean groaned. “It was also nice of you to finally admit your feelings for him.” Dean buried his head in his hands at that comment. But it was true, Dean wouldn’t have had the guts to ask him out or admit his feelings about Castiel. 

“Oh, yeah, Dean totally did that just to be nice.” Benny mocked. Dean finally gave in, agreeing with his friends.

“Guys, c’mon. I would’ve gotten around to it eventually. But thank God Cas helped me to it faster.” Dean joked and Charlie couldn’t help but agree.

Castiel shrugged out of his jacket, it was his old red one, which was much easier to get out of than his coat from last night. He blushed at the memory of Dean helping him out of his coat. “It was really nice of you to go for Castiel, Dean.” Charlie’s voice came through the walls very easily, due to the fact that she was using her “excited voice” which meant that she was being even louder than usual. Castiel couldn’t quite understand that statement, and he wasn’t paying attention to his feet, which were applying the pressure to toe off his shoes. The shoe shot across the front room, creating a loud smack that muffled the rest of her sentence. 

He heard an unknown voice saying something about being nice, but he wasn’t paying attention. He couldn’t understand why it would be of nice Dean to go on the date with him. Usually, that would imply that Dean was doing it for another reason, other than simply wanting to go. Castiel frowned. Did that mean that Dean hadn’t wanted to go?

Castiel recalled the other day, in the office when Dean had asked him out. Or had he? Dean seemed to be stuttering a lot and Castiel had wanted to help him out, so he said he’d go out with him. 

But Dean hadn’t mentioned a date. 

Castiel’s heart jumped. Dean had asked if they could meet up for lunch. It was supposed to be completely platonic, not involving romance in any way. Castiel stared at the wall opposite him in silence. He was so absorbed in his own thoughts he hadn’t even heard Dean’s response to his friends’ chastisement. Castiel reached for his show and slipped it back onto his foot without a word. 

When he walked to the door, no words escaped his lips. 

When he started up the engine of his car, even the radio was silent.

When he arrived home, he didn’t answer the questions of Hannah or even Inais.

When they banged on his door, he didn’t open the door and explain. Not even when Michael came around.

No, he only spoke when he curled up on his bed. And even then it wasn’t a sentence, and it certainly wasn’t a word.

On the other side of the door, all the Novaks could hear was a choked sob.

***

Dean looked at the clock in Charlie’s living room. “Okay is he really coming, or did you guys just lie to see my reaction.”

“No, he is,” Charlie checked her phone’s text messages. “Yeah, see,” she showed Dean the screen. “He said he’d be here.”

“Well, then why isn’t he here?” Dean asked. His eyes widened. “What if something happened to him? What if he’s hurt?” He asked in a quiet voice. Benny thought of making a joke, and Charlie could tell by the look on his face, so she shot him a glare.

“Dean, he’s probably fine. His phone probably died or something.” Dean nodded and tried to convince himself of that, but it simply wasn’t going through.

“I don’t know, guys. I just don’t feel good. I’m gonna head back home.” Benny had told him to feel better and Charlie had told him not to worry, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that Castiel was hurt in some way.

***

Michael paced through the kitchen. Lucifer leaned back against the counter top. When Hael came into the kitchen and tugged on Lucifer’s sleeve that was rolled up to his elbows, Michael was deep in thought. Lucifer poured her a glass of milk just like she asked. When Hael stayed in the kitchen Lucifer bent down at her level.

“What’s wrong with Castiel?” She asked. Lucifer smiled at her. She looked so cute, with her hair tied into two braids, her expression genuinely concerned. 

“I’m not sure, Hael. That’s what Michael and I are trying to figure out.” She nodded.

“He looked sad. I don’t like it when Castiel is sad.” Lucifer smiled at how she was still struggling with saying her brother’s name, managing to swallow up some syllables.

“Me neither.” That ended the conversation, and Hael walked back to her room. Lucifer turned back to Michael. “Pacing around isn’t going to fix this, you know.” Michael turned to him.

“Then what will?” He asked, voice painfully sharp, but Lucifer didn’t back down.

“You know what did this.” Michael turned away from him. “Michael! Their date was last night! That can’t possibly be a coincidence!” 

“But it doesn’t make any sense. Castiel was so happy went he returned and this morning he was grinning so hard I was slightly scared.” Michael explained.

“I don’t care. I know Dean is behind this.” Lucifer paused. “Wait did you hear that?” He left the kitchen and Michael followed his younger brother. They walked soundlessly to Castiel’s room and overheard a conversation. 

“Maybe you heard wrong.” Both brothers knew that was Inias.

“No, Charlie said it was nice of Dean to go on the date. He didn’t want to go. He just went because I had made a fool of myself by thinking it was a date.” Lucifer clenched his fists and turned sharply to his older brother. 

“Fire him.” He said quietly. However, it wasn’t quiet enough for Castiel to ignore. As he heard the springs bounce up as Castiel got off of his bed, both brothers left the hallway. Now in the kitchen, Michael pulled out his phone and pressed Dean’s name in his contacts. He left a voice message explaining that Dean was no longer welcome at the office due to the recent incident.

***

Dean opened the door of the Impala, and patted down his pockets. Crap. He had forgotten his phone at home. And he still hadn’t checked that voice message. He shrugged. It was probably just Charlie checking up on him. He whistled a tune as he entered the law firm, and noticed that Jody wasn’t at her desk like she usually was. He walked over to his desk and was about to turn on his computer when he noticed that Michael wasn’t here. And neither was Castiel. Dean felt terror wash through him and he opened Lucifer’s door without bothering to knock, too filled with concern for Castiel.

“Where’s-“ But that’s all Dean could manage, because now he was pinned against the wall, with Lucifer’s fists curled into his shirt collar. His feet were barely touching the ground, but that didn’t matter because Lucifer was looking at him.  
No, that wasn’t the right word.

Lucifer’s eyes were thunderstorms, clouded with rage, lightning and thunder crashing and clashing within his eyes. “What the hell are you doing here?” He spat out through clenched teeth. 

“I-I work here!” 

“Not anymore. You’re fired.”

“What?” What’d I do?” Lucifer laughed but it was full of annoyance and malice.

“I don’t know exactly but the end result was my little brother crying his eyes out and locking himself in his room.”

“Cas?” Dean switched from confusion and cheekiness to actual concern. He had to help Cas. Dean didn’t know what was going on, but he was going to fix it, and that meant hurting the person that did this to him. He was going to save Castiel. He Pulled his knee up and pushed it outwards to push Lucifer away. He ran out after that, and reached his car soon after that. He glimpsed Lucifer running after him, but it didn’t matter. None of it mattered. Only Cas did. 

***

As Dean drove, his right hand reached over to the glove compartment. He eyed the road for a few seconds and then reached in and pulled out a smooth box. He closed the compartment and continued driving with both hands on the steering wheel. Dean had held a job since he was a freshman like Sam, and his mother always let him keep most of it. He saved it all up and now he had a little close to 800 dollars, but with his secretarial job, he now had almost 1,000. He used it to buy a watch especially for Castiel. He was going to give the watch to him and ask him to be his boyfriend.

He parks by Castiel’s house, and runs up to the door within seconds. When the door opens, Dean recognizes Inais from Castiel’s descriptions. 

“What the hell do you want?” He snarls.

“Listen, I don’t have time for this. I need to see-” 

“You’re not going anywhere, Dean Winchester. Not after what you did to Castiel.” Dean drops his façade, bewilderment appears on his face.

“What?” His voice is quiet.

“You never wanted to go out with Castiel. He doesn’t need your pity. If you didn’t mean to ask him out, you should’ve corrected him, instead of breaking his heart.” Lucifer’s car was driving down the road at a speed that was hazardous, but not even half the speed at which Dean was driving.

“I need to see him now.” Dean tried to sound demanding, but his throat closed up, and his voice ended up cracking. Tears began to well at his eyes, and Dean did nothing to stop them. He was far too occupied hide his feelings. Inias caught the look and the tears and led him to Castiel’s room hesitantly. Inais knocked on the door and called out his brother’s name, but there was no reply. The door opened easily when he turned the doorknob, but Castiel was nowhere to be seen. 

All there was a letter left on his bed. Inias was stuck in his place. How could Castiel just leave?

Dean raced into the room, eyes trailing over the paper fast the first time, then slower the second time, trying to wrap his mind around the unbelievably unfortunate situation. After a while, the words finally made sense, and they stuck with Dean for a long time after that. The letter read: “I spoke with the administration at Harvard and they’ve allowed me too early so I’ve left. I was upset to say the least about our date, and I’m sorry for ever having bothered you, Dean. As for my siblings, I’m sorry to do this to you all. Michael and Lucifer, you have disrespected his privacy. Yes, I heard you outside of my door. I’m sorry to do this but I can’t handle being in the same small town as Dean, I just can’t handle seeing him again.”

Dean felt his fingers open slightly, and the paper fell slowly out of his grip and onto the bed. He got up off the bed and he could just barely hear Lucifer threatening him about something, but it didn’t matter. He could feel Michael’s heavy footsteps trailing behind him. He could smell the humid wetness of the rain and the muddy soil outside. In fact, he could practically taste the bland water on his tongue. But all he could see was Castiel.

***

The rainy months of Spring had been exchanged for the cool windy ones of Autumn. Explain to Sammy that Dean wasn’t going to college had been hard. He didn’t understand why Dean couldn’t use his time on the football team to get a scholarship to at least a community college. Dean had smiled sadly at that. Sam had always valued education above all else, which he got from his mother. Mary had taken the time to explain to him, and Dean had cheered him up with the fact that Dean this meant that he could hang with Sam.

No one had mentioned Castiel. They all knew better than that. 

Dean had left Castiel’s house that day, with only one thing in mind: fixing things with Castiel. Through their entire relationship, that’s all they had done. And now that they were finally close enough to be more than friends, something Dean knew that they both wanted, it was being taken away from them because of their misfortune. Dean had tried to call, but Castiel was ignoring him. Dean called Charlie and asked her if Castiel would have driven to Harvard, when she told him it was entirely possible, he got in his car began driving to Massachusetts. An unknown number called his cell and Dean found out that it was Summer. She told him that Castiel had called her from a Gas ‘N’ Sip just short of the Missouri border. 

When Dean arrived there, in a few hours, he was relieved to see a familiar mop of unruly black hair. But when he stepped closer to the person, it was revealed to not be Castiel. Soon after, Dean had returned to the highway, continuing northeast. He almost crashed his car when he thought he saw Castiel walking on the side of the highway. He got another call, and unfortunately he knew exactly who it was.

“Dean Winchester, this is a formal warning. If you every speak to or meet Castiel, we’ll-“ There was some scuffling, and Michael’s voice was replaced with Lucifer’s.

“We’ll kill you.” The call ended there, and Dean decided that Castiel simply didn’t want to see him again.

That didn’t stop the random appearances of Castiel in Dean’s view, of course.

When he arrived home, Dean’s mother had asked him about what had happened. Dean lied to her, and told her that he had quit because it was too much work. Mary had said that was fine, but she wanted to know if Dean had asked Castiel to be his boyfriend. Dean cursed under his breath. He had forgotten he had told her about it, thankfully he hadn’t told her about the watch. He turned away from her to walk to his room.

“He just wasn’t the one.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The chapter's pretty short, and for that I apologize. Just one more chapter left, and it's only an epilogue, but it'll be pretty cool, so check it out.

In the small town of Lawrence, Kansas, a pair of blue eyes hadn’t graced the sight of a pair of green eyes in over 10 years. However, the owner of said blue eyes had returned to this town every now and then. And, as foretold, the owner of the green eyes had never left the small town. Even though meeting again could be as simple as a phone call, and simply seeing each other could have been as easy as turning the wrong corner on Wednesday, or visiting the local café an hour early, the circumstances never arose, like two star-crossed lovers. 

Castiel Novak, the ocean-eyed boy, had left to Harvard a few weeks early due to a strange and personal situation. Although he hadn’t left his family on the best of terms, he returned home upon hearing that his brother, Michael, may have a brain tumor. Dean Winchester, the emerald-eyed boy, could have sworn he had seen Castiel on that day in November. However, Dean had shrugged it off, as he had almost always thought he had seen that boy with the ocean eyes. 

Castiel had returned to his studies soon after in January, when new tests were taken, which had stated that Michael had now tested negative for cancer, and that it was most likely a false alarm. Upon his return to Massachusetts, he entered his apartment to find Summer in her room, writing down notes for her thesis paper. Castiel and Summer decided since their universities were only 15 minutes apart, that they would become roommates and share an apartment.

She had asked how Michael was before he left, and Castiel had told her. He had called her prior to his return to inform her that Michael was okay, and that it was simply a bad test. She asked how things were at his home, and Castiel told her. He said that Hannah was doing quite well at Stanford, and she mentioned how she had seen Sam Winchester on the campus every now and then. Lucifer had glared at her for bringing up the name and Hannah and mumbled an apology when she realized she had stated the name without any thought. Castiel had said it was fine and put on a strained smile and asked Anna about her feelings about college. She was a freshman in Notre Dame, and she had said she was incredibly bored with school, but felt it was a necessary evil. Hael had had a hard time adjusting to being the only one at home after school. She missed Anna, as they were practically inseparable. In fact, she had made her mind up to go to Notre Dame, too. Anna had rolled her eyes and told Hael to grow up and live her own life, but it was simply a phase, because two years later, when Anna left for college, she told her little sister that if she wanted to go to the same college, then she would be honored. He told how he got along with Inias immediately, easily sliding into their old routines, as easily as five years before, when Inias had comforted Castiel upon finding that his date with Dean was nothing more than a practical joke. 

After he had finished, Summer looked at Castiel as if he wasn’t finished, and he knew immediately to what she was referring. 

“No, I didn’t see Dean fucking Winchester while I was there.” Summer was taken aback by his words, as he rarely ever swore. “That what you wanted to know wasn’t it?” He then got up from his seat on the couch and slammed his room door after entering through it. She respected his privacy, and stayed outside of the door. 

“Castiel, you can’t run from this.” She said. “I told you; Charlie said that Dean was looking for you, that’s why she called me asking where you were!” 

“Charlie?! You expect me to listen to Charlie through all of this?!” He yelled, bewildered.

“Yes! She’s your friend! What the hell are you talking about, Cas?” Even though Dean hadn’t stayed, the nickname had. Castiel saw it as a harsh reminder of his mistakes.

“You both told me he wasn’t an asshole!” He had yelled. His voice had lowered considerably, and now he spoke, almost to himself. “Well, you were wrong.” Castiel curled up on his bed. “No,” he thought to himself, “I’m the asshole.”

***

Sometimes it happened while Dean was crossing the street. Other times it’d happen when he was at work. Luckily, Bobby knew he was a good enough mechanic, even able to change a transmission by himself, and so he hadn’t fired him yet for his craziness. Or maybe it was because Bobby was an old family friend. Either way, Dean still had his job and his insanity. 

He hadn’t mentioned it to anyone at first, but one morning in the early days, he raced down the street he walking on with Charlie. When she caught up with him, he was facing an alley, with tears in his eyes. All he could say was, “I thought I saw him, Charlie. I could have sworn I saw him.” 

It hadn’t stopped when Charlie told Dean about her new job at Richard Roman Enterprises in Chicago.

It hadn’t stopped when Sam went off to Stanford.

Even when Dean moved in with Benny and they became roommates, it didn’t stop.

It had been ten years, and Dean couldn’t stop seeing Castiel. Sometimes Dean would wake up and Castiel would be next to him. The first time it happened like that, six years earlier, Dean reached out instinctively. The image dissipated, but later that day, when Dean returned to his room, with a half empty beer in his hand, to sleep, he saw him again. He was careful this time and he didn’t reach out. He whispered the boy’s name, and was satisfied in just taking in the sight.

Castiel was in front of him, clearly and not moving, not leaving Dean, and he wanted to take the time to memorize every detail, every square inch on him. Castiel’s blue eyes were dull, not electric like on the date, which now seemed like forever ago. Dean remembered the incident and the tears spilled down his face slowly, dropping one at a time, creating their own salty paths. 

“I’m sorry, Castiel. I’m so sorry, Cas, I just didn’t know what to say, y’know? I should have said it before, son of a bitch, I wish I could take it all back and do it over, and even if it overwhelmed you, I’d tell you that I love you, because it’d be so much better than this hell I’m going through without you. Cas, I’ve known you for what, a few months? And that was just enough to ruin my life. Damn Cas, that’s got to be a record,” Dean laughed bitterly. “Doesn’t matter now, does it? You’re stuck there, I’m stuck here, and maybe I’ll forget you, but I don’t think so. I don’t think that’s even possible. How the hell could I forget the ocean in your eyes, the roses in your lips, and the never ending universe in your heart?” Dean began to laugh uncontrollably now. “I’m lucky Benny’s not here. He’d never let me live this down. Hel that might be the most poetic shit I’ve ever said.” Dean sighed. He stared at Castiel. It was now that he realized that Castiel hadn’t said anything. “Like I said, it doesn’t matter.” Dean drained the last of his beer and set the bottle on the table beside him. “Nothing matters.”

***

“C’mon, Dean.” The redhead pleaded. She tried, as a last attempt: “Please?” Charlie Bradbury had traded in her causal wear for a go-getter power suit. She had said he wanted to look successful, but Dean didn’t pay any attention to why she wanted to, as the next words she uttered were completely useless to Dean. “Just go to the stupid reunion, will you?” Dean groaned. Sure, maybe a few years ago, when he realized what the reunion would mean, he wanted to go. But when Charlie informed him that Castiel would not be going, Dean’s interest faded. 

He was lying down on his bed, and he couldn’t be bothered to get up and make Charlie leave. Now, he far too preoccupied with thoughts of Castiel. He closed his eyes, Charlie’s voice tuning out, and he focused. He had gotten used to seeing Castiel. Castiel would appear to him so many times, that, if Dean wasn’t in a place surrounded by people, he would talk to Castiel. It sounded crazy, but it was the only way Dean could deal with Castiel’s absence. Sometimes Dean would wish that he never saw Castiel. Sometimes he’d wish that he had never met the boy in the first place. But that soon changed, and he grew dependent on his visions of Castiel. He knew it wasn’t real, but Dean yearned even for the simple company, or he’d wait all day just to look at Castiel. He would tell Castiel about his day, and, of course, he’d never reply, but just talking to him seemed so easy to Dean.

He’d talk about how much he missed Castiel. Somehow, his conversations always ended up there. He’d talk and talk, explaining how that asshole Victor complained every time Dean fixed his car. 

“‘I didn’t see the other guy do that,’ he’d say. Oh my god, what a dick. ‘Of course you didn’t see the other guy do that’ I’d say. ‘The other guy’s not as good as me.’ He always complained to Bobby, and he’d pretend to chew me out, but as soon as the guy was out of an earshot, Bobby’d lay off me.” Dean was lying on his bed that time, and his eyes rolled from across the room to the side of his bed where Castiel was lying, motionless. “I wish you were there, Cas. Hell, I wish you were here.” He paused to take a sip of his beer, his head tipping back slightly. “I really miss you, you know.” He sighed and placed the drink on the table next to him. “That was a dick move, though. Running off like that. You shouldn’t have your family like that, man.” Dean paused and allowed himself a moment to feel selfish. “You shouldn’t have left me, Cas. I know you were happy, I saw it on your face that day. And you know I love you, you knew it! I guarantee everyone knew it.” Dean waited for the tears to fall off of his chin before he continued. “Cas, you freakin’ child. You’re too damn scared to let yourself be happy, damn it.”

These were vague memories in Dean’s head. Now, he was trying to summon Castiel. He began to depend on seeing Castiel again, waiting for his next fix like an addict. And it was never too soon to see Castiel. If he tried hard enough, he could see Castiel. However, while Dean aged through the ten years, Castiel never did, remaining the same as the last time Dean saw him. On the date. Dean could see the faint outline of his messy black hair, the wear and tear on his trench coat. “Cas,” he breathed. “Hey, baby. I missed you.” Dean wanted to hold Castiel’s hand. He wanted to feel the warmth of those fingers on his, and he had waited for today to be the day it finally happened. He was going to stop the charm he used to throw girls back in the day. He wasn’t going to beat around the bush, or dance around it. Dean was going to walk up to Castiel, even if he had to get on a damn stage for Castiel to see him, he’d do it. He’d tell Castiel that he was sorry, he’d explain to him that he fucked up, he let him know that it was all a stupid misunderstanding. But above all, Dean would tell Castiel that he loves him. Because it was for Castiel, and Dean was not going to let this get messed up.

But only an hour ago, Dean had opened the door to his and Benny’s apartment. He had welcomed Charlie inside, and explained that Benny would meet them at the reunion later. Dean and Charlie took some time to catch up, and then they spent some time reminiscing. They spoke about who would be attending the reunion tonight, and what each person had been up to lately. They talked for a long while, and soon Charlie had talked about the recent events of everyone she knew. But Dean was still looking at her, waiting for more information. She sighed; she knew exactly what Dean was waiting for. Summer, Charlie and Castiel had also managed to remain friends, even though they were separated by long distances. Charlie knew that Dean would be in serious trouble if he ever contacted Castiel, even if their messages were transferred through other people. Charlie would tell Summer how Dean was doing, and she would causally slip the information into her conversations with Castiel. It was always hard to tell how Castiel felt about Dean. Summer had noticed that his feelings about the boy were mercurial; Some days his eyes would perk up when Summer slid in the information. Other days he’d tense up physically and claim disinterest on the subject. However, she always felt that the affection remained for Dean, it was just placed in some corner of Castiel’s mind, a place he most likely tended it often.

Charlie explained that Castiel would be unable to make it to the reunion, and Dean’s good mood vanished immediately. When Charlie had tried to convince him that it would still be fun, Dean ignored her and returned to his room. 

His focus was spread throughout his thoughts and the growing image of Castiel dissipated. It was then that Dean realized that the apartment was silent, and then Charlie’s voice picked up. “What?!” She was saying. “You couldn’t tell me earlier? You did not call me before!” Charlie pulled the phone away from her ear to look through her missed calls. She saw three calls from Summer recorded on her phone. Charlie winced. “Okay, so you did. Whatever, let’s not play the blame game. You’re right, that could motivate him to go.” Dean didn’t like the sound of that. “Alright, bye.” She knocked on the door.

“Dean, listen up.” Dean was sure that he was not going to listen up. “There’s been some new developments.” She said in her best cop voice. Charlie smiled wickedly. As reprimand for the time she was stuck waiting for Dean, she wouldn’t tell him just yet. 

“Does it have something to do with that phone call you just made?” Charlie nodded before realizing that there was a door between them. 

“Yeah it does.” Charlie paused to think of a good excuse that would send Dean over the edge and force him to go. Unfortunately, she had used up all of her better excuses already. “Uh, you don’t get you money back if you don’t go?” She tried, wincing at how bad the excuse was. Dean could see right through his friend, translating the pause and weary sentence as a desperate attempt to make Dean go to the reunion. Dean sighed. If not for Castiel, he should at least go for Charlie and Benny, the friends who stayed by his side and helped him through this.

“Fine.”

***

“Let me guess.” The lady at the front desk said. Dean looked at her and tried to remember her name, but nothing clicked. “Dean Winchester?” Dean muttered a “yeah” and she bit her lip. “I didn’t think you could look any better than you did in high school.” Dean pulled the nametag with his name on it off the table as the lady checked off information by his name. She handed Dean a paper with her number on it with a wink. Normally, Dean would have called the number and had a good time, but tonight he was too busy with Castiel in his mind. Dean threw the paper into the trash bin.

“Hey!” Charlie said. Dean looked at her strangely.

“What?” He asked.

“If you’re not going to tap that, you could’ve let me!” She exclaimed.

“Charlie, aren’t you with Gilda?” 

“No, her dad flipped shit when he found out she was gay. He made her move and everything. It was awful.”

“Sorry, wait, I meant Dorothy.” Dean said.

“Well she moved, too.”

“Guess she’s not in Kansas anymore, huh?” Dean asked, trying to make the conversation lighter. 

Charlie laughed. “Guess not.”

There were signs that Dean and Charlie followed that led to the main gym. “Hey, I’m gonna get something to drink. Be back real soon.” As she walked away, Charlie realized that she forgot to tell Dean. “Oh well,” she thought. “He’ll figure it out soon.” Dean stood back, standing away from the crowd. He remembered his school days, where he was the football captain. He wasn’t an “A” student, but everyone knew he was a smart kid. They all expected big things from him. So he thought that many of his classmates and teammates would be incredibly disappointed to hear that he hadn’t even attended college. Of course, he had always figured that everyone important knew why he was staying home, and they were the only people with opinions that mattered. Over the years that attitude had diminished slightly, but nostalgia brought it all back, and soon enough Dean pushed himself off of the wall with a signature Winchester smirk on his face.

Dean Winchester was back. 

He spent time noting that time had not been kind to many, but had certainly helped others. He talked with his old friends, noticing how respectable and mature they had gotten. However, that had changed soon enough, and the foolish, reckless spirits freed themselves from their prison within the men, banishing the proper men that the years had tamed and trained them into. Dean walked with his friends over to the crowd that was forming. Shouts filled the air, and laughter soon followed. Dean couldn’t hear most of what was said, or what they were talking about, but it seemed funny. He laughed until he heard shouts of “loser” and “still lonely”. It didn’t seem funny anymore.

“Hey, leave ‘em alone” Dean growled. The crowd moved aside as he pushed through. The crowd began to mumble amongst themselves. Dean placed his hand on the guy’s shoulder. “Are you okay?” 

It was strange. The sky couldn’t look up at him, but he had no way of describing the incident, as something that blue had to have been the sky. There was only one other thing that was that blue, but it couldn’t be…

“Cas?” He croaked out. His voice cracked and his throat was dry. He could barely even hear his own voice. Before the man could say anything, Dean pulled him in for hug unbearably tight, as he didn’t, couldn’t, and wouldn’t let go. The crowd whispered amongst themselves. Castiel closed his eyes and let the tears fall onto Dean’s shirt. “Cas, I missed you, buddy.” Dean said pulling away from his friend. Castiel nodded wiping the tears from his eyes. “Geez, Cas. I didn’t know my good looks could bring tears to your eyes.” Castiel laughed and Dean smiled. He remembered how rewarding it would feel to hear that laugh, all those years ago. The crowd had dissipated by then, and Dean and Castiel wandering the halls of their school to find a quiet place to talk.

They walked side by side, in silence, unsure of what to say, if anything at all should be said. Dean snuck a glance at Castiel noting that he was wearing a suit and his trench coat, an outfit similar to the one he had worn on their date, but this one had a striped blue tie instead of a solid one. Dean noticed Castiel’s head turning towards himself and he quickly looked down. Dean realized that he himself was wearing the same clothes he had worn on the date. Three times now Charlie had set Dean up to fail with Castiel around. Dean swore under his breath, but the quiet carried the sound to Castiel’s ears. He quirked up an eyebrow at that, but said nothing. 

“What?” Dean asked.

“Nothing.” Castiel said quickly. Dean looked at him. “I’ve never heard someone swear to themselves, is all. Talking to one’s self is often the first sign of madness.”

“Are you calling me crazy, Cas?” Dean treaded cautiously.

“Well, I wouldn’t be wrong.” Dean laughed and slid his arm around Castiel, immediately feeling better. He was just starting to get back into the routine that they had created for themselves. They began to talk about what happened to themselves since they had departed, not necessarily talking about their departure. They spoke about their troubles and their gifts of the present. Dean realized how much better this was compared to the open-sided conversations he was used to with Castiel. The silence soon crept up, unexpectedly, and dropped itself heavily between the two. Dean found it unbearable.

“Cas, why did you leave me?” Dean asked with his voice quiet and almost child-like in its innocence. Castiel couldn’t bear to look at Dean’s face. 

Castiel remembers everything. He relives the pain, the tears, the anger, the frustration, the heartbreak, the loneliness, the guilt. He remembers finally getting to his dorm and being grateful that he didn’t have a roommate for the current semester. He thought faintly that it might be a good idea to rent out an apartment with Summer, a thought to distract him from his real worries. It doesn’t last long, and soon Dean is everywhere in his mind.

He let go of what he had been holding in and cries so hard he can feel his body shaking like an earthquake. He was so close to being happy, actually feeling content, but he couldn’t let himself have it. He cried for the loss of Dean, the boy he truly and deeply loved. He sobbed for the realization that with having known Dean, he would never really love anyone else. As much as he tried to peel his mind away from his last thought, he could hold back no longer, and the tears turned from a steady flow to an explosion. The wailing turned from shushed, quieted, sobs to loud, throat-aching cries. He couldn’t image how Dean was taking this. He knew Dean liked him, of course he did. 

Summer had called Castiel, telling him to rethink his actions, and later she had called saying Dean was driving after him. Castiel had slowed his car down and pulled over in at a Gas ‘n’ Sip. He called Summer and told her to stop calling. It was a few minutes later when he was refueling his car, that he had heard someone shouting his name. He knew immediately that I t was Dean. He looked at the state he was in and Castiel knew that Dean Winchester was in love with him. He studied the bewilderment on the boy’s face. He watched the desperateness that overtook his features. He saw the boy’s green eyes that were still red and puffy from tears. 

Castiel wanted nothing more than to walk over to Dean and wrap his arms around the green-eyed boy, to be comforted in Dean’s arms. He could almost hear Dean’s voice soothing him. “It’s okay, Cas. I got you. It’s okay.” His feet began walking over to the boy and a crooked voice uttered Dean’s name. The other boy turned around and a car passed in front of Castiel slowly. A part of him began to think about Charlie’s phone call with Dean, and how she had said it was nice of Dean to accept the date to avoid embarrassing Castiel. The thought that all of this might be a sick joke crossed his mind. Then he remembered hearing the other boy with a Louisiana accept say: “Yeah, Dean that was real nice of you.” He remembered the mocking tone and how Dean’s laughter had followed after that. The small part of him that had generated this thought suddenly grew larger and just as the car was leaving, before Dean could walk close enough to see him, Castiel walked away. He caught sight of Dean reached for the shoulder of another person with dark hair.

Castiel repeated out loud to Dean what he had told himself all these years. “You didn’t really like me. You just went on that date because you pitied me.” Dean stared at Castiel in disbelief. To Charlie and Benny, his affection for him was as clear as day. 

“You really think that, Cas?” His voice got even quieter. Castiel saw the sadness in Dean’s eyes. Dean shrugged it off and they continued to walk in silence.

“So, you been with anyone?” Dean asks. With Castiel, he’s used to starting up the conversation. Castiel keeps his eyes focused on the tiles in front of his feet.

“Not really. A few relationships here and there, but none really worked out.” Dean looked down, too, as they turned down the corner. “What about you, Dean?” Castiel asked.

“Nah, not especially. A few one-time things, but nothing special.” Castiel nodded, almost in agreement. “Couldn’t spend more than a night with anyone because I’d be too busy thinking about you.” Dean said this without thinking it through. He wanted to explain to Castiel how much he had missed him and how much he loved him, but now that Castiel was here, he wanted to ease into the whole confession, but now he had practically asked Castiel to marry him. 

Castiel felt numb at those words. Dean did like him. Castiel had always known this deep down, but he just couldn’t bring himself to tell Dean how he felt. Dean must have hated him for it all, being overly dramatic and leaving in a rush. Now he was here with Dean, who was explaining that he had always adored Castiel, and that he had never really stopped.

“But the date-“ Castiel begins.

“Castiel,” Dean says and he stops walking, standing in front of Castiel. “Let’s get this straightened out. I went on that date and I loved it. I loved you. I couldn’t wait to have a thousand more like it with you. But the next day, when you were supposed to come to Charlie’s, and you didn’t show, I got worried. I mean, what if something happened to you?” Castiel could see the worry in his eyes that were reflective of that day at the Gas ‘N’ Sip. Dean continued the story and explained it all to Castiel. 

“I saw you.” Castiel says, not quite meeting Dean’s gaze.

“What?” Dean was confused. When did Castiel see him? Castiel was now staring directly at Dean, and this time he held the gaze.

“At the Gas ’N’ Sip. When you were looking for me. You were there for me.” Castiel dropped the gaze. “But I wasn’t there for you. I came back home so many times, I could have seen you. I had your number, I could have called you. I’m sorry, Dean.” Castiel whispered. Now Dean was seriously confused.

“Cas, I was the one who made you leave. That’s on me.” Dean said, gesturing to himself. “You only reacted to a bad situation. This is not your fault.”

“But Dean, all the times I could have fixed this, all the times I could have changed it, redone it-” Dean placed a hand on Castiel’s shoulder to stop him. 

“We can’t change the past. Let’s just agree to disagree and say that we’re both just a couple of dumbasses.” Castiel laughed and nodded, and Dean slid his arm around Castiel’s shoulders. They continued to walk in blissful silence until Dean made a sound of remembrance and reached into his pocket. “Almost forgot. My big moment.” He whispered under his breath. He stopped and stood in front of Castiel and pulled his hand, emptily, out of the pocket. “Cas, before that date, I wasn’t sure at all what was going on. But now I’m sure.” Dean paused. “Well, like 90% sure, I think.” Castiel looked at him quizzically. Dean waved him off. “Castiel, I know I love you now, and before it’s too late like last time, I’ve got to ask: will you be my boyfriend?” Dean held out a wide jewelry box that held a delicate silver watch with a bright blue center on which three silver hands moved. 

Castiel couldn’t move. He wanted so badly to say “Yes, Dean of course. I love you. That’s why none of my relationships worked out.” But he couldn’t move, and he couldn’t utter those words. “Come here, Freckles.” Dean was surprised that this was the first thing Castiel said. He could just remember the day when Castiel had called him that, due to the fact that Dean had called him “Feathers’. Now Dean realized why he had a strange compulsion to have the watch specialized for Castiel the way that it was. Castiel pulled Dean’s tie and brought him in for a kiss. He whispered “Yes”. Dean smiled, pulled away and pulled the watch out of its box. Castiel tried to reject the gift due to its obvious expense. 

“Cas, I want you to have this.” Dean remembered something and smiled. “Hey this is really cool, look.” He flipped the watch over, and continued to speak. “I got this specially designed for you. That’s why it’s blue and all. Like your eyes.” He blushed slightly when admitting that. “I also got it engraved.” Castiel smiled and looked to see Dean’s green eyes practically sparkling with excitement. “It says: For my angel. I love you, Feathers.” Castiel pulled Dean in for a hug.

“It looks beautiful, Dean. I love it.”

“What about me?”

“Dean, we were having a moment.”

“Yeah, okay, but what about me?”

“Because of that, I’m reevaluating my love for you. I think I’ve mistaken it for utter annoyance.” Castiel began walking again at a brisk pace.

“Aw, c’mon, Cas.” Dean pleaded, trailing after his boyfriend. “Don’t be like that.” Dean was now directly behind Cas, who then turned and kissed Dean. 

“Does that answer your question?”

“Yes, it does, Feathers.”

“Shut up, Freckles.” Dean placed his arm around Castiel’s shoulders, but then slid it down comfortably around Castiel’s waist.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Epilogue time, bitches!  
> Please leave comments, reviews and whatever else!

“Hey, Cas.” Dean said, flipping through channels on the television. He was lying on the couch. Dean had the day off and spent it by watching movies, talking to Sam, and just relaxing. Castiel, however, didn’t have the day off. He spent the day going through the files of his newest case at the office in which Castiel had met Dean. Castiel walked inside, and after he didn’t reply, Dean looked up. “Cas?” Castiel turned around and looked at his boyfriend. 

“Oh. Hello, Dean.” He said. Dean looked at him strangely. 

“You okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine. Just tired.” Dean let out a sound of understanding. He moved over to make room for Castiel on the couch. He patted the empty space next to him, and Castiel accepted the invitation and sat down, wearily. Dean returned to looking through the programs. Castiel slipped a hand into his trench coat. “Dean, I got you something.” Castiel didn’t know exactly how to say, other than simply saying it, which is what he decided to do. Dean put the remote down and turned to Castiel.

“It’s not our anniversary.” Dean frowned. “Is it?” He pulled out his phone to check. Castiel laughed.

“No, Dean.”

“Cas, c’mon. That’s not fair.” Dean whined. “Now, I feel bad. I should’ve got you something.” 

“You don’t have to get me anything. Just do me a favor.” Castiel asked. He placed the box in Dean’s hands. Dean opened it up carefully, and inside was a delicate gold ring. Dean’s eyes widened and glowed like moons. His jaw resembled a broken gate, unable to close and open at its hinges. He picked it up and the inside read: “For my love that I never should have left. I love you, Freckles”. “Say yes.”

And Dean complied.


End file.
